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THE LIFE OF
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
(INVENTOR OF PHONOGRAPHY)
BY
ALFRED BAKER
NEW YORK
ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, Publishers
31 Union Square (West)
1908
TO
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ROSEBERY
K.G., K.T.,
PRESIDENT OF THE
FIRST INTERNATIONAL SHORTHAND CONGRESS
HELD IN LONDON IN 1887
THIS VOLUME
IS INSCRIBED WITH HIS LORDSHIP'S
KIND PERMISSION
PREFACE
In the illustrious roll of inventors who have in our
own age conferred great and varied benefits on
their country, the name of Sir Isaac Pitman
occupies a unique position, as the originator of
a method of brief writing as widely used as the
language in which it is written. His bold experi-
ment of giving to the world a system of shorthand
having an absolutely phonetic basis was an
immediate success, and for seventy years it has
proved of inestimable service for every purpose
for which a written record is desired, and has
"become the standard method of English short-
hand. He did not live to see success attend his
proposals for a drastic reform of English spelling
on a strictly phonetic basis. But it is only just
to his memory to point out that, to his work as
a pioneer, is to a large extent due the revived
interest in simplified spelling manifested in our
own time.
The life story of Sir Isaac Pitman has been
related in many forms, but not hitherto with the
completeness which has been attempted in the
present volume. The author's thanks are due
to Sir Isaac's family for placing at his disposal
all the personal records in their possession. Mr.
Henry Pitman, younger brother of the Inventor
of Phonography, gave valuable information
on many points. From the writings of Mr?
r
VI PREFACE
Benn Pitman assistance was derived in relation
to his early reminiscences of his brother. The
" Biography of Isaac Pitman," written by Mr.
T. A. Reed in 1890, comprises a large amount of
information which would not have been recorded
at all but for his industrious pen, and this work
has of necessity been freely drawn on.
Later information on the birthplace of Isaac
Pitman points to the fact that he was born before
his family moved to Timbrell street, Trowbridge
(page 6). While the " Life M was appearing in
serial form some further facts came to the
author's knowledge relative to the presentation to
Mr. G. J. Holyoake (page 29). There is no doubt
that Isaac Pitman visited Birmingham in the year
of the presentation, and that a certain " Mr.
Pitman " made the gift to young Holyoake. But
whether he was really the Inventor of Phonography
(as Mr. Holyoake believed and wrote) appears to
be doubtful.
Thanks are tendered to the proprietors of
Punch for permission to reproduce the cartoon
on page 219 ; to Mr. George Lansdown, of the
Wiltshire Times, Trowbridge, for permission to
reproduce a rare drawing of the school attended
by Sir Isaac Pitman ; to Mr. F. H. Fisher (editor
of the Literary World) for permission to quote the
" In Memoriam " sonnet ; and to Mr. A. T.
Donald, Aberdeen, for assistance with the
bibliography. A R
Dec, 1908,
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. EARLY DAYS. 1813-1831 .... 1
II. STARTING IN LIFE AT BARTON-ON-HUMBER.
1832-5 16
III. EVENTFUL YEARS AT WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE.
1836-7 24
IV. INVENTION OF " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND."
1837-9 30
V. SETTLEMENT IN BATH AND PUBLICATION OF
" PHONOGRAPHY." 1839-40 . . .44
VI. BEGINNING OF THE PROPAGANDA AND " THE
PHONOGRAPHIC JOURNAL." 1840-2 . . 53
VII." THE WRITING AND SPELLING REFORM — THE FIRST
INSTITUTE. 1843 73
VIII. PHONOTYPY INTRODUCED — PHONOGRAPHY AND
THE SPELLING REFORM ATTACKED AND
DEFENDED. 1844-5 85
IX. A DEPARTURE IN PRINTING AND PUBLISHING —
MR. A. J. ELLIS AND THE " 1847 ALPHABET."
1845-S 95
X. " THE PHONETIC NEWS " AND WHAT FOLLOWED.
1849-50 104
XI. THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AND EXETER
HALL — THE SECOND AND THIRD INSTITUTES.
1851-6 .111
XII. THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH EDITIONS OF PHONO-
GRAPHY. 1857-S2 126
XIII. " THE READING, WRITING, AND RECKONING
reform." 1857-62 136
xiv. a quarter of a century of phonography —
PRESENTATION TO THE INVENTOR. 1862 . 144
XV. A CHARACTER SKETCH — ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION ON " BRIEF WRITING." 1862-4 , 155
vii
Vlll CONTENTS
XVI. PHONOGRAPHIC AUTHORSHIP — TESTIMONY IN THE
JUSTICIARY COURT AT EDINBURGH — ADDRESS
AT MANCHESTER. 1865-72 ....
XVII. SHORTHAND PRINTING FROM MOVABLE TYPE —
THE FOURTH INSTITUTE. 1873-5.
XVIII. MAX-MULLER AND THE SPELLING REFORM — A
PROPOSED ROYAL COMMISSION. 1876-9
XIX. MANY SCHEMES OF SPELLING REFORM AND
11 THREE RULES " — PUBLIC APPEARANCES —
ACTION IN THE HIGH COURT — AMEN CORNER.
1880-6
XX. THE PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE — THE FIFTH
INSTITUTE. 1887-9
XXI. A NEW EPOCH IN SHORTHAND TEACHING — THE
NATIONAL PHONOGRAPHIC SOCIETY — AN EDI-
TORIAL JUBILEE. 1890-3 ....
XXII. KNIGHTHOOD CONFERRED ON THE " FATHER OF
PHONOGRAPHY." — RETIREMENT FROM THE
PHONETIC INSTITUTE. 1894
XXIII. INTERESTS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND FADS — SOME
PERSONAL DATA ....
XXIV. LAST YEARS. 1895-7 ....
XXV. PUBLIC TRIBUTES .....
APPENDIX I.
APPENDIX II.
APPENDIX III.
INDEX
A REPRINT OF STENOGRAPHIC SOUND
HAND "
THE EVOLUTION OF PHONOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....
PAGE
166
184
202
222
245
279
292
300
318
327
333
349
355
381
PLATES
SIR ISAAC PITMAN. MEMORIAL PORTRAIT BY A. S. COPE,
A.R.A., IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. LONDON
Frontispiece
FACING
PAGE
SAMUEL PITMAN, FATHER OF THE INVENTOR OF PHONO-
GRAPHY 4
SCHOOL ATTENDED BY ISAAC PITMAN AT TROWBRIDGE . 7
ST. JAMES'S CHURCH, TROWBRIDGE . . . . &
" COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE " PRESENTED TO ISAAC PITMAN
BY MR. SAMUEL BAGSTER . . . . .23
KINGSTON HOUSE (OR THE HALL), BRADFORD-ON-AVON . 25
ISAAC PITMAN'S PRIVATE SCHOOL AT WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE 30
ISAAC PITMAN'S HOUSE AT WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE (" THE
BIRTHPLACE OF PHONOGRAPHY ") . . . .33
"STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND" PLATE 1 . . . 34
" STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND " PLATE 2 . . .35
TITLE AND COVER OF " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND."
PUBLISHED IN 1837 40
FACSIMILE OF ISAAC PITMAN 's LETTER TO SAMUEL
BAGSTER, 14TH NOVEMBER, 1837 . . . .42
NELSON PLACE, BATH (FROM A DRAWING ABOUT 1840) . 44
THE FIRST PHONETIC INSTITUTE, NO. 5 NELSON PLACE,
BATH ......... 48
PHONOGRAPHY. THE PENNY PLATE, 1840 ... 52
"THE PHONOGRAPHIC JOURNAL," JANUARY, 1842 . 66
FACSIMILE OF FIRST PAGE PRINTED IN PHONETIC SPELLING
(1844) 86
ISAAC PITMAN (AGE 32). PAINTED BY J. B. KEENE . . 89
REDUCED FACSIMILE OF THE TOP PORTION OF THE FIRST
PAGE OF " THE PHONETIC NEWS " (1849) . . .104-
ix
X PLATES facing
PAGE
THE SECOND PHONETIC INSTITUTE, UPPER BRISTOL ROAD,
BATH Ill
phonetic society card of membership. 1857 . .128
isaac pitman (age 46) 131
cartoon published in the " phonographic luminary "
in 1862 134
facsimile of isaac pitman's lithographed shorthand
from the 1870 edition of macaulay's biographies 170
isaac pitman (age 55) 178
certificate issued to members of the phonetic
society from about 1870 to 1879. . . .182
the fourth phonetic institute, kingston buildings,
abbey churchyard, bath ..... 196
facsimile of isaac pitman's lithographed letter to
members of the phonetic society (1873) . . 200
hazelwood, warminster road, bath . . . 220
facsimile of shorthand letter on the jubilee
celebration from isaac pitman to mr. reed . 248
isaac pitman from a marble bust by thomas brock,
R.A. (1887) ........ 256
THE AMERICAN GOLD MEDAL TO COMMEMORATE THE
JUBILEE OF PHONOGRAPHY, PRESENTED TO ISAAC
PITMAN ........ 268
THE FIFTH PHONETIC INSTITUTE, LOWER BRISTOL
BATH . . . . .
ISAAC PITMAN AND SONS ....
SPECIMEN OF PHONOGRAPHY PRODUCED BY THE
GRAPHIC ETCHING PROCESS .
ADDRESS OF SHORTHAND WRITERS OF AUSTRALIA
NO. 17 ROYAL CRESCENT, BATH
• •
ROAD,
. .
276
.
278
TYPO-
.
287
. .
319
. .
324
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
FACSIMILE OF SAMUEL PITMAN'S HOROSCOPE OF HIS SON
ISAAC 3
DESIGN ON THE COVER OF THE " POCKET EDITION " OF
PHONOGRAPHY (1842) . . . . . . «71
THE THIRD PHONETIC INSTITUTE, PARSONAGE LANE, BATH 122
A CORNER IN THE THIRD PHONETIC INSTITUTE . .123
FACSIMILE OF GENESIS I, 1-5, PRINTED IN MIKMAK. . 142:
SPECIMEN OF PITMAN'S SHORTHAND (REPORTING STYLE)
PRINTED FROM METAL TYPE CHARACTERS . . . 186
" FUN IN SCIENCE." SHORTHAND DRAWING BY LORD
BURY 274
MEMORIAL TABLET PLACED BY THE BATH CORPORATION
ON NO. 17 ROYAL CRESCENT. BATH . . . 329"
XI
Life of Sir Isaac Pitman
EARLY DAYS
1813-1831
Sir Isaac Pitman, the inventor of the most
widely used system of English Shorthand,
and a lifelong advocate of Spelling Reform, was
born on Monday, the 4th January, 1813. His
birthplace was Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, but
his parents were natives of Taunton, in the neigh-
bouring county of Somerset, and his family name
is one which has been borne with distinction by
several West Country men. The father of the
future shorthand author was Samuel Pitman ;
his mother's maiden name was Maria Davis.
They migrated from Taunton soon after their
marriage in 1808, and made their home at Trow-
bridge. This town has been engaged for many
centuries in cloth manufacture, and as Samuel
Pitman was by trade a hand-loom weaver, the
reason of his settlement there is sufficiently
obvious. For the next twenty years he acted as
overseer of the cloth factory of Mr. James Edgell.
He was an excellent business man, and had the
satisfaction of managing a very prosperous under-
taking. There can be no doubt that he possessed
i
x— (2284)
2 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
more than average ability, and the recollections
of his children and friends reveal an individuality
as well worthy of biographical notice as an example
of a typical Englishman of the middle class, as
many on whom fortune showered more favours,
or circumstances brought into greater prominence.
Much that is distinctive in the character of Isaac
Pitman he owed to heredity, and some account,
therefore, of the influence which his father exer-
cised may appropriately precede the story of his
son's life. It should be added that the influence
of Isaac Pitman's mother was, in some respects,
equally important. To her may be traced the
deep affection which united the family of eleven
children to their parents and to each other. Of
this affection the family correspondence, which has
been preserved, furnishes abundant testimony.
Samuel Pitman had so little regular school
instruction that he thought it hardly worthy of
mention, but by self-education he attained to
considerable ability in some branches of know-
ledge. He made a thorough study of astronomy,
and acquired the skill necessary to calcu-
late eclipses and other celestial phenomena.
The imaginary science of astrology was largely
cultivated in his time, and he was a diligent student
of Ebenezer Sibly's erudite quarto volume, " A
New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial
Science of Astrology/ ' As each of his children
was born he cast the infant's horoscope, which
was duly inscribed in the family Bible. An
HOROSCOPE 3
additional copy of the horoscopes of both parents
and children was also made by him, and has been
preserved in the family. In the case of his son
Isaac, the horoscope did not indicate in any way
FACSIMILE OF SAMUEL PITMAN'S HOROSCOPE OF HIS
SON ISAAC
his future greatness as a shorthand inventor,
and possibly this was one of the reasons which
led Pitman pere in later years to abandon his
faith in the " celestial science/ ' At a time when
books were scarce and hard to obtain he was a
4 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
diligent reader, and when he returned to his home
after the discharge of the many active duties which
formed his day's work, a book was invariably
the companion of his leisure hours. He was
consequently well informed, and his studies,
coupled with his observation of life, made him
tolerant in matters of religion. A man of sincere
conviction in regard to the truths of Christianity,
he practised his faith with conspicuous impartiality
and broad-mindedness.
Each member of his family of seven sons and
four daughters was baptised in infancy at the
parish church of St. James, Trowbridge, the
christening of his son Isaac taking place on the
11th April following his birth. Soon after this
event, the Rev. George Crabbe, the poet, received
his last clerical preferment, and was inducted
Rector of Trowbridge on the 3rd June, 1814.
Under the parson poet, Samuel Pitman became
superintendent of the Church Sunday School,
which Isaac and his brothers attended either as
scholars or teachers. Their mother, who was a
sincerely religious woman, and of a singularly
equable temperament and kindly disposition, was
a Baptist, and the family attended with her at
Zion Chapel, which was not in its earlier days .
equipped with a Sunday School. Through the
exertions of Samuel Pitman and others this defect
was made good, and he became superintendent
of this school, his eldest son Jacob and his next
son Isaac acting as teachers there. On alternate
SAMUEL PITMAN
{Father of the Inventor of Phonography) j
EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENTS 5
Sundays father and sons continued to discharge
similar duties at the older school established in
association with the parish church.
The interest of Samuel Pitman in educational
advancement unquestionably had a great influ-
ence on the future career of his son Isaac. At
this period, more than half-a-century before the
Education Act of 1870, almost the only provision
for popular education in England was in the form
of the parochial charity school. But three years
before Samuel Pitman settled at Trowbridge,
Joseph Lancaster's efforts had resulted in the
formation of the great society, which in a few
years established throughout the land institutions
designed for the children of the masses, and popu-
larly known as British Schools. In Trowbridge
the movement found an earnest pioneer in Samuel
Pitman, through whose instrumentality subscrip-
tions were obtained and a large school-house
built, which, if not the first, was one of the earliest
in the West of England. A few years later the
infant school movement arose, and he promoted
a scheme which brought the Pestalozzian system
within the reach of the children of his fellow
townsmen.
In another branch of social reform Samuel
Pitman was a pioneer, namely, that of temperance
— a good many years before the time when the
men of Preston enriched the English language
with the word " teetotal/' Nearly half-a-century
before free libraries were heard of in England,
6 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Samuel Pitman — again well in advance of his age
— had established a library for the work-people
at his cloth factory, together with a reading-room.
Interested as he was in these movements for the
general welfare, he was in his home an excellent
father, and not only set a good example there to
his sons and daughters, but while firm and just
in the discharge of the duties of the head of the
family, he made use of all means which lay at hand
for their moral and intellectual improvement.
It was at the family residence in Timbrell
Street, Trowbridge, that Isaac Pitman was born,
but his birthplace was long since pulled down in
order to make room for business premises, and
even the site is now uncertain. The testimony
of his brothers shows that in his early youth he
began to exhibit those mental and moral charac-
teristics which were distinctive of his later life.
His younger brother, Benn, says, " Isaac in his
youth was of a diligent and studious habit. He
was of a sensitive nature, inclined to be thoughtful,
regarding life and its duties as matters of grave
concern/ ' His elder brother, Jacob, observes,
" Isaac never had any of that rollicking nonsense
about him peculiar to most of us boys, nor do I
remember his ever stopping on his way from
school to play, but home directly he went, either
to his books or to his work." In the Pitman
family the greatest regularity and punctuality
were observed in regard to the daily round of
duties ; the children were not permitted to loiter
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SCHOOL DAYS 7
in the streets, and any infringement of regulations
was followed by chastisement, administered by
Pitman pere with a strap. Recreative exercise
was not, however, neglected, and took the form
of country walks, and bathing and swimming ;
in the last named pursuit his brother Benn bears
record that Isaac showed courage and even
daring.
The school days of Isaac Pitman began and
ended at a comparatively early age. He received,
he tells us, the rudiments of an English education
in a day school of his native town : " From a list
of the names of his pupils, kept by the master,
Mr. Nightingale, it appears that Isaac Pitman
left school on 8th October, 1825, in the thirteenth
year of his age. The school contained from
eighty to 100 boys, and the size of the schoolroom
was about 25 ft. by 15 ft., and 8 ft. or 9 ft. high.
A raised desk was placed against the wall on the
window side of the building, high enough to allow
of half-moon standing classes underneath. In
the small space afforded by this high desk, and on
the floor of the room about 100 boys were crowded
together. The air was consequently so vitiated
that young Pitman was frequently obliged to
leave the schoolroom and go into the fresh air to
recover from a fainting fit. His school days were
thus early closed in consequence of these faintings.
No one suspected that the schoolroom was in
fault — so little were sanitary conditions of life
then considered."
8 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
In a note to the above account Isaac Pitman
records that the "' fresh air " into which he was
taken was " the churchyard, lying between the
school and the church/ ' This was, in fact, used
as a playground by the scholars, and Benn Pitman
has recollections of the games which were played
by them among the monuments of the departed,
" over which the boys chased each other in wildest
glee." On Sundays the schoolroom was used as
the Church Sunday School, to which reference
has already been made.
The early termination of his school days was
sincerely regretted by Isaac Pitman. He was at
once initiated as a clerk in the counting-house of
Mr. EdgelFs cloth manufactory, and after a short
experience there earnestly begged his father to
allow him to return to school and resume his
lessons, but the latter did not see his way to accede
to his son's request. He advised Isaac to con-
tinue his studies at home, and indeed provided
the means for doing so. Although the office hours
were from six in the morning to six at night, the
young clerk found time for systematic study. He
and his brother Jacob rose at four each morning,
and devoted nearly two hours to their books,
till they left home to begin the duties of the day,
and in the evening they gave one or two hours
to study. It occasionally happened that there
was no work to be done in the early morning at the
factory office, and Isaac used such opportunities
for study in the open air.
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BOOKS AND MUSIC 9
Among the authors who had a great influence
in the formation of his habits and character was
Isaac Watts, whose work on " The Improvement
of the Mind " was a favourite volume of his early
days. The well-known lines of this writer were
especially applicable to Isaac Pitman :
In books, or works, or healthful play,
Let my first years be past,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.
There were two periods in the family history
when Samuel Pitman arranged an evening school
for his children, securing as instructor Miss New,
a lady of good general culture and musical ability,
who was daughter of the only bookseller in Trow-
bridge. Instruction was imparted in English
subjects and in music. Music lessons were given
for a considerable time to the young Pitmans
on an antiquated triangular harpsichord. When
some proficiency had been acquired in fingering,
their father bought a Broadwood pianoforte of
five-and-a-half octaves, to the keen delight of
his son Isaac, who had from his early years a
great fondness for music ; books and music, as he
once observed, were his " two loves." At a
later period a pair of globes was obtained, and
Isaac profited by this addition to the means of
instruction to such an extent that in subsequent
years he was very successful in his school work
in demonstrations by the " use of the globes."
10 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Some of the particulars of Isaac Pitman's work
of self-education recorded above are drawn from
Mr. Thomas Allen Reed's " Biography. " As this
is the only account of this important period, we
here make further extracts (revised by the subject
of this narrative), which exhibit the young student
unconsciously laying the foundations of his life
work. " One of the books," Mr. Reed says,
" which he made his companion in morning walks
into the country, was ' Lennie's Grammar/ The
conjugations of verbs, lists of irregular verbs,
adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, and the
thirty-six rules of syntax, he committed to memory,
so that he could repeat them seriatim. The study
of this book gave him a transparent English style.
There was also a local library to which his father
subscribed, one of the earliest lending libraries
established in the country, and Isaac was one of
its most diligent readers." " I went regularly
to the library for fresh supplies of books," he
observed in the course of a speech delivered at
Manchester in 1868, (( and thus read most of the
English classics. I think I was quite as familiar
with Addison, and Sir Roger, and Will Honey-
comb, and all the club, as I was with my own
brothers and sisters .... and when reading
the ' Spectator ' at that early age I wished that
I might be able to do something in letters." The
perusal of the " Iliad " at this time gave him great
delight. In addition to the lending library, occa-
sional parcels of books were obtained from London,
SELF-EDUCATION 1 1
Samuel Pitman having the advantage of buying
them from the publishing house of Tegg, 73
Cheapside, at discount prices. Of this privilege
Jacob Pitman says that his father " availed him-
self to a large extent, purchasing a number of
books which he had never seen before, and this
gave a great impetus to our studies/ '
" Isaac was in the habit/' Mr. Reed tells us,
" from the age of twelve, of copying choice pieces
of poetry and portions of Scripture into a little
book which he kept in his pocket, for the purpose
of committing them to memory. Two of these
little pocket albums have been preserved. Their
contents are very various. One contains extracts
from Pope, Milton, Cowper, James Montgomery,
the Psalms, and Isaiah, interspersed with the
Greek alphabet, the Signs of the Zodiac, arithmet-
ical tables, and other items of useful information.
This book is dated 31st May, 1825. The pen-
manship is extremely neat and distinct. A later
pocket companion contains a neatly- written copy
of Valpy's Greek Grammar, as far as the Syntax,
which he committed to memory ; a chrono-
logical table, etc. In his morning walks [in 1832]
he committed to memory the first fourteen
chapters of Proverbs. He would not undertake
a fresh chapter until he had repeated the preceding
one without hesitation.
' Up to the age of sixteen he greatly increased
his knowledge of books ; but he rarely had the
opportunity of intercourse with educated persons.
12 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
One result of this was that, while familiar enough
with written words and their meaning, he was at
fault with regard to their pronunciation. A large
portion of the language of books he had never
heard in conversation, or at school, and the mis-
leading or ambiguous spellings of these words
often led him to pronounce them (mentally)
inaccurately. Happily, he was conscious of this
defect, and did his best to remedy it. Of many
hundred words, known by the eye only as dumb
symbols, he learned the accentuation by his
reading and passionate love of ' Paradise Lost.'
With characteristic energy and thoroughness, he
set himself a task, which to most persons would
be little less than repulsive, and which probably
few have undertaken. He carefully read through
Walker's Dictionary, with the double object of
extending his knowledge of words, and of correct-
ing his errors in orthoepy. The words which he
thus discovered that he had mentally mispro-
nounced were copied out with their proper diacritic
symbols of pronunciation. They numbered about
two thousand, and their correct pronunciation
had to be fixed in the memory by repetition. The
chief difficulty in this task lay in the fact that a
false pronunciation or accentuation had to be
unlearned. This reading of Walker was made
at about the age of seventeen. He read through
the book a second time, with the same object. "
[In 1832-6.]
Soon after the first study of Walker, " With
A MOMENTOUS DECISION 13
that instinctive love of knowledge common to
boys," Isaac Pitman says, " I began to study
shorthand. I saw that it would be a great advan-
tage to write six times as fast as I had been
accustomed to, and I borrowed a book, read it
through, copied the alphabet and • arbitrary
words/ and have written shorthand ever since."
The story of his mastery and use of the steno-
graphic art will be more conveniently narrated
when we come to describe the invention of
Phonography.
Isaac Pitman continued to hold the position of
clerk in Mr. Edgell's factory until his father, in the
year 1829 (when the subject of this biography was
about sixteen years old), began business as a cloth
manufacturer on his own account, and installed his
son in the counting-house. The family moved to a
house in Silver Street, Trowbridge, having a cloth
factory adjoining it. Isaac fulfilled the duties of
clerk in his father's office until August, 1831,
when he was a little more than eighteen and a half
years old. At that time his father, who, as we
have already seen, was greatly interested in the
movement for providing popular education, decided
that Isaac should become a school teacher under
the British School system. This selection of a pro-
fession for Isaac Pitman was the originating
cause of his life's work, for it brought him in con-
tact with those whose influence on his career was
nothing short of remarkable. In accordance with
his father's decision, he was sent to the Borough
14 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Road Training College of the British and Foreign
School Society. Here he underwent a five months'
training, and at the end of this time left the College,
just after he had completed his nineteenth birth-
day, to take up his first appointment. The
preparation was brief in point of time, but the
young graduate was apt, and his training invested
him for the rest of his life with all the best attri-
butes of the schoolmaster, so that down to his
latest years there was about him much that was
distinctive of the manner and methods of the
preceptor of youth. When Samuel Pitman
applied personally to the Training College for the
admission of another son, the Head Master, Mr.
Henry Dunn, in granting his request, said, " You
may send me as many more of your children as
you can spare." Accordingly, in later years,
five other members of the Pitman family were
received at the Training College, namely, Jacob
and Joseph of the boys, and Rosella, Jane, and
Mary of the girls. All of these afterwards received
appointments to schools in different parts of
England.
As references to the various members of the
Pitman family will occur in subsequent chapters
of this Life, the present is a convenient opportunity
for introducing them to the reader.
Samuel Pitman (b. 12 Sept., 1787, d. 2 Dec,
1863), married on 17 April, 1808, Maria Davis
(b. 1784, d. 2 July, 1854). After the death of his
first wife he married in 1857 Eliza Darton, relative
THE PITMAN FAMILY 15
of a London publisher of that name. The children
of Samuel and Maria Pitman were as under :
Melissa (Mrs. Prior, later Mrs. Jones), b. 1809,
d. 1864.
Jacob, b. 1810, d. 1890.
Isaac, b. 1813, d. 1897.
Abraham, b. 1814, d. 1829.
Rosella, b. 1816, d. 1898.
Joseph, b. 1818, d. 1895.
Jane (Mrs. Hunt), b. 1820, d. 1896.
Benjamin (Benn), b. 1822.
Mary (Mrs. Webster), b. 1824.
Henry, b. 1826.
Frederick, b. 1828, d. 1886.
II
STARTING IN LIFE AT BARTON-ON-HUMBER
1832-1835
The year which witnessed the passing of the
Reform Bill, saw Isaac Pitman enter on the
duties of his first appointment. Almost at the
end of his career, in a letter to Mr. Gladstone, he
reminded the veteran statesman of a coincidence
in their personal history : " We commenced our
public life," he wrote, " in the same year, 1832,
you as Member for Newark and I as Master of the
British School at Barton-on-Humber." Barton
is a small market town in North Lincolnshire,
six miles south-west of Hull, and the young school-
master arrived there on the 20th January. Many
a man who has been the architect of his own fortune
is proud to be able to boast that he began life
with the proverbial half-crown in his pocket. In
the case of Isaac Pitman the amount his purse
contained when he alighted from the coach to
take over his first charge was no more than three
half-crowns. With praiseworthy exactitude he
kept in a small pocket-book a complete record of
his income and expenditure from the date when
he began life at Barton. This account reveals the
above fact, and from it we are able to see with
what scrupulous promptitude he discharged every
liability he incurred, and out of his slender means
16
BARTON BRITISH SCHOOL 17
contributed to various useful objects. More than
one entry bears eloquent testimony to the need of
postal reform. Whenever a u letter from home "
arrived, it cost its recipient the sum of Is. Id. !
The position to which Isaac Pitman was
appointed was that of Master of what was known
as Long's School, from the fact that the funds
came from an educational bequest by an individual
of that name. As the trustees at this time con-
ducted the school in association with the Society
which sent the Master to Barton, it became also
known as the British School. The number of
boys was about 120. The new Master began
his duties at a salary of £70 a year, which was
afterwards raised to £80. From the testimony
of some of his old scholars, intelligent and trust-
worthy men, it is evident that he created a very
favourable impression in Barton by his conduct
and ability. One cherished till his latest years
a prize volume awarded to him at the British
School bearing an inscription in the Master's
handwriting, and another had in his old age as
vivid a recollection of the instruction imparted
to him by the Master as he had when in early
life he attended the old school (many years since
converted into dwelling houses). Shorthand was
not taught in the school, but by the aid of the
blackboard Isaac Pitman trained the scholars
in methods of correct pronunciation. The Lan-
castrian methods of education appear to have had
the charm of novelty in this remote town, and the
2— {2284)
18 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
circumstance lingered in the recollection of his
old schoolboys that the marching, which formed
part of the system, was done to the accompani-
ment of the Master's flute. Like many distin-
guished men who could be named, Isaac Pitman
found great delight in early life in playing this
instrument. In respect of discipline he is described
as having been in a mild way a martinet. He
seems, however, to have made little use of the
cane. Incorrigible boys were dealt with by
detention after school hours, and the tasks then
imposed had to be carried out under the eye of
the Master.
Outside his school Isaac Pitman appears to
have been active in his efforts for the mental
and moral improvement of the inhabitants of
Barton. He gave popular lectures on astronomy,
and his addresses on this subject seem to have
been highly appreciated. He took a lively interest
in Temperance Reform, directing his attack on
the use of ardent spirits. A Temperance Society
was formed at Barton, under the regulations of
the British and Foreign Temperance Society,
and he filled the post of secretary. Work was
commenced by the circulation to every house-
holder of a tract written by Isaac Pitman, dated
5th November, 1834, in which the evils of intem-
perance were described in vigorous language.
The tract was headed " Gin, Rum, Brandy, and
Whisky/ ' and the opening sentences were calculated
to arrest attention. Its author wrote ; " Ardent
TEMPERANCE ADVOCACY 19
spirits, pure or mixed, are pronounced by the
highest authorities in our land to be evil spirits.
This is not generally believed : faith is weak
because knowledge is imperfect. Not till lately
has the old-fashioned falsity been exploded, that
1 a comfortable glass does one good/ Sir Astley
Cooper says, ' Spirits and poisons are synonymous
terms/ " An appeal was especially made to
Christians to aid in the work. In those early
days of temperance advocacy, the tract caused
some stir at Barton, and the views set forth in it
met with opposition. A Nonconformist minister,
residing in the neighbourhood, published some
strictures on it. But it happened that these
were circulated before the original had been sent
out to the public, and consequently Isaac Pitman
utilized the blank leaf of his tract for the purpose
of replying to his too eager opponent. From
that time his interest in the Temperance
Reformation never abated.
He attended the services at the Methodist
place of worship, and on 19th April, three months
after his arrival, he was admitted on trial into the
Wesley an Methodist Society, Barton Circuit. After
nearly three years' membership, his name was
placed on the plan of circuit preachers for 1835-6.
This plan Isaac Pitman wrote out with copper-
plate neatness on an extremely minute scale, and
it is interesting to notice among the names that
of one who was in frequent communication with
him in later years, namely, the Rev. Joseph
20 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Hudson, who took orders in the Church of Eng-
land, and was for many years Vicar of Dodworth,
near Barnsley.
In the course of his ministrations at the villages
around Barton, Isaac Pitman, in October, 1835,
conducted the services in the Methodist chapel
at Ulceby, and he there saw for the first time a
copy of Bagster's " Comprehensive Bible," in the
house of his host, Mr. John Hay, a substantial
farmer. Hitherto the young schoolmaster had
used for his private reading the well-known
octavo Reference Bible, issued by the Bible
Society, which had been presented to him by the
Committee of the Borough Road College. A
careful study of this volume had led to the dis-
covery of certain errors in the references, and as
he was desirous of ascertaining whether the " Com-
prehensive " repeated any of these mistakes, he
borrowed the volume and took it home with a
view to instituting a comparison. He found that
of thirty-eight errors, which he had detected in
the Bible Society's edition, fifteen appeared in the
" Comprehensive/ ' A letter was addressed to
the Bible Society giving a list of the thirty-eight
errors. Though the communication was not
acknowledged, the Society in subsequent years
corrected the errors which had been pointed out
in their Reference Bible.
On the same date he wrote to Mr. Samuel
Bagster, the founder of the well-known publishing
house of Bagster & Son, whose publications in
BIBLE CORRECTION 21
6 8 6~B. c^-
association with the Holy Scriptures, it has been
well said, " earned for him the esteem of all
Biblical scholars. " As this letter brought Isaac
Pitman in touch with one whose influence on his
life work was very considerable, it will be of
interest to relate the circumstances which led to
their early acquaintance. The communication
addressed to Mr. Bagster was dated 15th October,
and called attention to the errors which the
writer had discovered in references in the " Com-
prehensive Bible." " I have made it my custom,"
Isaac Pitman said, " for two or three years in
my morning and evening reading of Scripture,
to refer to every parallel place ; in some measure
appreciating the value of the plan. If you would
like to place a copy of your Bible under my care,
to be considered your property, I would make a
constant and careful use of it, and give you the
benefit of the corrections and mistakes which I
might discover in reading it through."
The next coach from London brought a prompt
reply from Mr. Bagster, accompanied by a copy
of his " Comprehensive Bible," and subsequently
a second copy, divided into seven portions, each
to be returned when read, was forwarded at Isaac
Pitman's suggestion. Some idea of the magnitude
of the self-imposed task may be gathered from
the fact that the marginal references in the work
amount to a total of five hundred thousand. The
young schoolmaster made a careful estimate of
the amount of reading and revision he could
22 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
accomplish daily, and came to the conclusion that
he could complete the undertaking in three years
from the latter part of October, 1835 ; as a matter
of fact he reached the end well within that period,
for it was in August, 1838, that the work was
finished. Moreover, these were years in the life
of the reviser when hindrances were to manifest
themselves that he could not at this time anticipate,
which, with any less steadfast worker, would have
effectually brought all progress to a standstill.
Benn Pitman states that at least five thousand
hours of the closest mental and physical applica-
tion were devoted to this revision, and that it was
religiously pursued every day till completed.
Mr. Bagster, he also tells us, offered to pay any
sum which Isaac Pitman might name for his
services, but the ardent searcher of the Scriptures
would take nothing. To a friend who suggested
that he ought to accept payment he replied, " I
offered to do the work freely ; and, of course, I
would not now accept anything for it ; it has been
a great satisfaction and a benefit to me ; but now,
when I want to give my whole attention to my
Phonetic Shorthand, I am only too grateful that
it is completed/'
These laborious investigations resulted in the
discovery of at least one error per page, some-
times more, in the references, and when the Bible
was afterwards printed with all these emendations
duly made, the grateful publisher presented to his
voluntary helper a superbly bound copy of the
COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE " PRESENTED TO ISAAC PITMAN
BY MR. SAMUEL BAGSTER.
A PRESENTATION 23
large edition of the " Comprehensive Bible/' on
the cover of which was a silver plate bearing this
inscription : " Presented to Mr. Isaac Pitman
as a token of esteem, and in remembrance of the
friendly diligence with which he laboured to
secure the Typographical Accuracy of this edition
of the Sacred Scriptures, by Samuel Bag$ter,
March, 1843." The Bible revision had resulted
in a lasting friendship between publisher and
reviser, and had, as will be seen later, a very
important bearing on the invention and
propagation of Phonography. .
At Chapel Brigg (Glamford Briggs) on 5th
January, 1835, Isaac Pitman was married to Mrs.
Mary Holgate, a lady of good birth and education,
the widow of Mr. George Holgate, solicitor, of
Barton. Her late husband had left her an income
for life, so that Isaac Pitman and his wife were able
to establish a well-appointed home, such as would
have been impossible on the slender stipend of
his scholastic post.
Ill
EVENTFUL YEARS AT WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE
1836-1837
In the ancient Gloucestershire town of Wotton-
under-Edge, lying at the foot of the Cotswold Hills,
and situated in a district famous alike for its
scenery and its associations, a number of the
inhabitants — in emulation, no doubt, of what was
being done elsewhere — decided to provide facilities
for popular education. A Nonconformist school
committee was formed, and at the invitation of
this body Isaac Pitman, in January, 1836, went
from Barton to take up the duties of Master at
the new British School established at Wotton.
The salary was the same, and the school was of
similar size. Personal reasons appear to have
strongly influenced him in making the change.
His elder brother, Jacob, had married and settled
in a pleasant house with grounds, situated at
North Nibley, not far distant from Wotton, and
here Jacob's wife, who had formerly been a
governess, conducted a ladies' school. Isaac was
glad of the opportunity of residing near his
brother, and within easy distance of the rest of
his family. His younger brothers, Benn and
Henry, lived with him at Wotton and attended
his school.
It was about this period that Samuel Pitman
24
KINGSTON HOUSE 25
removed his weaving business from Trowbridge
to the neighbouring town of Bradford-on-Avon
(where water power could be utilized), and for
some years occupied Kingston House. This fam-
ous structure, which Aubrey described as " the
best house for the quality of a gentleman in all
Wiltshire/' was built towards the end of. the
sixteenth century. The architect is unknown,
but the design has been ascribed to John of Padua.
After it ceased to be the home of the Pitman
family, it was used as a farm-house, but passing
into the hands of Mr. Stephen Moulton in 1848,
was admirably restored, and is now justly admired
as a fine example of the architectural taste of the
period in which it was built.
The length of Isaac Pitman's residence at
Wotton was three years and a half, and in many
respects this was the most important epoch of
his life, for its whole course and aims were deter-
mined by what then happened. In the present
chapter we propose to deal with the earlier portion
of these eventful years only, namely, the period
of less than two years which preceded the invention
of Phonography.
Very little either in the nature of narrative or
anecdote is now obtainable concerning Isaac
Pitman's conduct of his second British School.
In the turmoil which arose over the religious
difficulty referred to below, his educational work
seems to have been all but forgotten. But that
it was very successful the following facts will
26 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
show. The School Committee engaged a " long
room " called " The Folly," in Sim Lane ; for
about a year the school was conducted in this
room, when it was found necessary, in consequence
of the increase in the number of scholars, to remove
to larger premises. These were found in the
first floor of a disused factory in what was known
as " The Steep/ ' at the bottom of Long Street,
a building which afterwards became a Church
Institute.
The change in Isaac Pitman's religious convic-
tions which led to the " difficulty/ ' came about
under the following circumstances. In his journey
from the North to Gloucestershire, he made the
acquaintance on the coach between Birmingham
and Wotton, of Mr. John Kingwell Bragge, of
Clifton, an uncle of a well-known Birmingham
citizen. Mr. Bragge says, in a published letter,
that his stage-coach companion led the way to a
conversation on religious subjects and authors,
and " I ventured at length to ask him/, he goes on,
"if he had ever read any of the writings of
Swedenborg." The young schoolmaster replied
that he had read with delight a work by the Rev.
John Clowes (Rector of St. John's, Manchester),
in which some of the doctrines of the Swedish
seer were explained, but confessed that prejudice
had prevented him from studying the revelations
at first hand in the works of the author. A
fortnight later Isaac Pitman paid a visit to Mr.
Bragge, when the works of Swedenborg were
RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY 27
further discussed. A correspondence ensued, be-
ginning with a letter dated 9th February, 1836,
from Isaac Pitman. The letters were published in
the Intellectual Repository, between the following
September and March, 1838, and in them the
inquirer's full acceptance of the doctrines discussed
was set forth.
A controversy of some bitterness arose over
Isaac Pitman's change of faith, which it would
serve no useful purpose to describe at length.
As he did not retire from his connection with and
work for the Wesleyan body, he was ejected from
it • and strong condemnation of his views was
expressed from the pulpit of the Congregational
chapel, when he was among the worshippers.
During the remainder of his residence at Wotton,
therefore, he attended divine service at the parish
church. On first doing so, he considered it
necessary to protest aloud at the invocation of the
Trinity in the Litany, but the Vicar, the Rev.
Benjamin R. Perkins, B.C.L., a clergyman of
Christian wisdom and tolerance, allowed the
interruption to pass unnoticed, and became, in
fact, on very amicable terms with his parishioner.
The Vicar's friendship was highly appreciated by
the Pitman family from that time until they left
Gloucestershire. Consequent on Isaac Pitman's
acceptance of Swedenborg's revelation, the School
Committee dismissed him from his Mastership.
In some " Reminiscences " dealing with his
religious views, published by himself at the close
28 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of his life, Isaac Pitman says that the two seem-
ingly casual events, the visit to Ulceby (which led
to the friendship with Samuel Bagster), and the
coach ride from Barton (which resulted in the
change in his scholastic position), " under the
guiding hand of the Divine Providence shaped the
course of my life." They were, as we shall see,
amongst the causes of the invention of Phono-
graphy, or Phonetic Shorthand, of which he has
stated that his early study of Walker was the
" first step."
During these years of storm and stress, it is
characteristic of the man that he went on un-
interruptedly with the revision of the " Compre-
hensive Bible," in accordance with the plan he had
formulated at Barton. His views on total absti-
nence deepened. About the year 1837 he knocked
the bung out of his beer barrel and poured its
contents down the sewer, and for the rest of his
life discontinued the use of intoxicating liquor in
any form. It was at Wotton that he adopted a
vegetarian diet. An unsuccessful attempt to kill
a fowl for the cook led to humanitarian reflections,
and a resolve to dispense with animal food. There
was also the influence of example — two ladies who
resided at Ebworth Park, near Wotton, with whom
he was acquainted, were vegetarians. A literary
influence must not be overlooked, namely, the
reading of Shelley's " Queen Mab," and to such
a diligent Bible reader Genesis i, 29 was a com-
mand. Following the adoption of a vegetarian diet
• I
76
G. J. HOLYOAKE 29
came relief from dyspepsia, from which he suffered
severely at this period of intense application to the
work to which he had set his hand.
At this time Isaac Pitman showed interest in
an educational movement which his friendship
with the Bragge family probably brought under his
notice. He attended the prize distribution at the
Birmingham Mechanics' Institute in 1836. One
of the prize winners was George Jacob Holyoake
(1817-1896), then following the occupation of a
whitesmith, but a diligent student. Holyoake
had won the first prize in mathematics. At that
time mathematical instruments were expensive,
and it became known that the student had
ingeniously constructed a pair of compasses for his
own use from sheet iron. Isaac Pitman presented
young Holyoake with a set of mathematical
instruments, accompanying this additional prize
with the remark that " it was a pity a master mind
should be so crippled." Young Holyoake — who
had then no intuition of his future career as a
co-operator and reformer — replied that he hoped
to show his gratitude for the gift by renewed
exertions in the cause of science.
IV
INVENTION OF " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND "
1837-1839
During the early part of 1837 Isaac Pitman
opened a private school at Wotton-under-Edge,
and secured suitable premises for the purpose at
the top of Long Street, the British School from
which he had been dismissed being at the opposite
end of the same street. There was an opening
for a school of a higher grade than that which he
had just left, and in a very short time he derived
a larger income from his new enterprise than the
salary he had previously received from the Com-
mittee. Shorthand was among the subjects in
which he decided to impart instruction in his new
school. He had made much use of the art since
he acquired it. From the year 1833 he had written
out all his correspondence in shorthand in a letter
book, afterwards transcribing these letters in
longhand for despatch to the addressees. Letters
to the Press and other literary productions were
also first composed in shorthand, and he was in
the habit of taking notes of sermons and speeches
in which he was specially interested, as he could
write at a fair though not a high speed. But he
had not hitherto attempted to teach the art in
the British Schools he had conducted. Now, in
a position of greater freedom, and with a superior
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MASTERY OF SHORTHAND 31
class of scholars to that attracted to the elementary
schools, instruction in shorthand was introduced
in his own school.
The shorthand method which Isaac Pitman
mastered in the course of his youthful studies was
William Harding's edition of the system of Samuel \t
Taylor. An account of the circumstances under
which he learned the art will appropriately preface
the story of his earliest attempt in the domain of
shorthand authorship, in which he was destined
to become famous. In the year 1829 a copy of
the system mentioned above was lent him by his
cousin, Charles Laverton, a young man of great
promise, who had acquired shorthand as an aid
to his study for the ministry. The cousin was a
son of William Laverton, who married a sister of
Isaac Pitman's mother, and it is of interest to
mention, in passing, that other sons of William
Laverton, and cousins of the subject of this bio-
graphy, were Mr. Abraham Laverton, some time
Member of Parliament for Westbury, Wiltshire,
and Mr. Frederick Laverton, the founder of the
well-known Bristol house furnishing business.
Isaac Pitman and Charles Laverton were of a
similar studious bent ; they helped each other in
their studies, and a close attachment existed
between them. This friendship was broken in a
tragic way by the accidental death of Charles
Laverton. He had left England for America,
intending to study at Harvard University, but
when about to land he slipped from the plank
32 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
connecting the vessel with the wharf, and was
drowned.
The feature of Harding's publication which
stimulated Isaac Pitman to make himself proficient
in the art was an essay by William Gawtress, of
which he thought so highly in later years that he
quoted it in his own " Manual of Phonography "
in many successive editions of that work.
" Phonography/' he long afterwards wrote, " with
all the intellectual and social benefits that follow
in its train, has resulted from the seemingly trifling
circumstance that the author, at the age of seven-
teen, learned Taylor's system of shorthand from
Harding's edition, and that he was incited to the
study chiefly by the perusal of the eloquent
enumeration of some of the advantages arising
from the practice of the art, from the pen of
Mr. Gawtress, the publisher of an improved edition
of Byrom's system."
Taylor's shorthand was taught by Isaac Pitman
to a class of the more advanced boys in his school ;
but he soon discovered that it was necessary, if
shorthand was to become a subject of instruction,
as he desired it to be throughout the schools of the
country, that a suitable treatise should be available
at a much lower price and in a more concise form
than the cheapest edition of Taylor then known
to him. He accordingly prepared a small
instruction book on this system, which he supposed
could be published at the low figure of three pence,
and submitted the manuscript to his friend, Mr.
ISAAC PITMAN'S HOUSE AT WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE
(The " Birthplace of Phonography ")
A FRUITFUL SUGGESTION 33
Bagster, accompanied by a letter dated 24th April,
1837. Mr. Bagster readily agreed to undertake
the publication of the work, but before taking
any practical steps submitted the manuscript to a
professional reporter for his opinion. This was
communicated to Isaac Pitman, and was to the
following effect :
The system Mr. Pitman has sent to you is already in the
market ; now if he will compile a new system, I think you
will be more likely to succeed in your object to popularize
shorthand ; there will be novelty about it.
The name of this sagacious and impartial
adviser, who, no doubt, himself used one of the
old stenographic methods, has not been handed
down to us. He deserves the gratitude of the
English-speaking world for making the suggestion
which led Isaac Pitman to become a shorthand
inventor. But if we cannot pay him the honour
which is his due, we can at least give praise to
Samuel Bagster, not only for having elicited this
epochal proposal, but for his friendly offices during
the next few years in advising the inexperienced
young schoolmaster on many practical points which
contributed to the success of the new system. " I
had no intention of becoming a shorthand author/ '
the Inventor of Phonography remarked at Man-
chester, " the ambition of appearing before the
public in that capacity never entered my mind,
until it was suggested to me as a means of
accomplishing my end."
The opinion above quoted appears to have been
3— (2284)
34 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
communicated to Isaac Pitman in the month of
May. He at once took steps to carry the idea into
effect, and started on the enterprise with the
sanguine enthusiasm which was such a marked
feature of his mental temperament throughout his
long life. " When the phonetic idea had taken
lodgment in Isaac's brain," observes his brother
Benn, " we talked of nothing else on our way to
and from school, and in our occasional morning
walks, and intense was the joy of my brother at
the completion of his long task (on the ' Compre-
hensive Bible ') and the opportunity it afforded
him to give his time and thoughts, as well as heart,
to new ideas in the field of experiment and
usefulness then opening up to him."
The summer months of 1837 were consequently
exceedingly busy ones in the life of Isaac Pitman.
In addition to his school duties and the completion
of the Bible revision, he embarked on the work
of constructing a system of shorthand based on the
sounds of the English language, with the analysis
of which his study of Walker's " Principles of
Pronunciation " had rendered him, as we have
seen, thoroughly familiar. All the spare time not
occupied in other duties appears to have been
devoted to the construction of shorthand
alphabets, and to experiments with them ; even
the Midsummer holiday of three weeks was
occupied in the task. It is interesting to note that
Isaac Pitman was most deeply engrossed in ex-
periments with his system on that momentous day
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FACSIMILE OF PLATE 1 IN " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND "
Key to Plate 2 on opposite page.
Inscription over the Diar-'a,m. — This alphabet contains sixteen vowel sounds, twenty-five
single consonants, and twenty-four double ones ; total sixty-five letters, including every
vowel sound in the language, and every combination of consonants that will commence a
syllable, all drawn from this diagram.
Examples . — la, The plainest practical plsn of putting pen to paper for the production
of peerless poems or profound and powerful prose for the Press or for private pursuits
ever published. 3J1, Tea, tin ; pay, pet ; father, fat ; daw, dot ; show, shut ; coo,
could ; fine, duke, boy ; vow. 5«, Fear thou the Lord in thy youth ; hate and avoid evil ;
love and pursue good ; and so walk in the paths of life. 7/, Anguish bb, bd, bf ; 8a, db,
dd, df ; 8d sp, st, sf, sk, sr, sm ; ga, sb, sd, sf, sg ; ge, rbl, pkr ; 9g, ff , mm, prpr ; 10a, least, all,
oil ; right, our, raw , case, us, see ; among, owing ; 11c, sprain, strong, screw ; n/, splinter,
swing ; 126, principle, instruct ; i2g, possible, toaster, whisper ; 13a, maxim, sticks ; 13c,
queen, request ; 13^, exist, languish ; 13^, lm, ; 14a, beyond, statistics, open, alter, altitude ;
14/, mood, tune ; 15a, transact, wisdom • childhood, without, forward, professions, contents,
3)/rU^2.
t. x -6r \
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in
FACSIMILE OF PLATE 2 IN " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND "
Key to Plate 2 [continued).
incomplete, missionaries ; xba, thoughts, comes, thou mayest ; 300, 60,000, 300,000, second,
third, fourthly ; 17a, comma, semicolon, colon, period, admiration, interrogation, irony,
parentheses, brackets, hyphen, quotation marks ; 171, notwithstanding, nevertheless, indis-
pensable, incomprehensible, satisfactorily ; \%e, as it is said, there are, kingdom of heaven,
His Majesty's ministers, practice of the Court.
Rules of Life. — 1. To read often and to meditate well on the Word of God.
2. To be always content and resigned under the dispensations of Providence.
3. Always to observe a propriety of behaviour, and to preserve the conscience clear and
void of offence.
4. To obey that which is ordained, to be faithful in the discharge of the duties cf our
employment, and to do everything in our power to make ourselves as universally useful as
possible.
• Always to remember " The Lord will provide."
SHORTHAND INVENTION 35
when Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne, so
that the art is coeval with the opening of the
Victorian Era, of which it proved to be one of the
most useful inventions.
In setting about the construction of a new
system of shorthand, the inventor turned his
attention first to the representation of vowel
sounds. This is a feature in which preceding
systems were either imperfect, because they
essayed to represent only the five vowels of the
common alphabet ; or ineffective, because their
vowel signs were impracticable. For some time
Isaac Pitman pondered over the advisability of
introducing into his proposed system the vowel
scale now so widely known, and proved by the
experience of millions of shorthand writers to be
the best practical method of representing the
vowels ever devised for English shorthand. It
was with " fear and trembling " he has himself
told us that he framed the scale which ran origin-
ally, ee, eh, ah ; aw, oh, oo ; and i> e, a ; oy u, oo,
"\ ee -I eh j ah "| aw -i oh j oo
\ z ] e \ a \ o -\ u | oo
and also provided signs for the representation of
four diphthongs.
He had little confidence in the usefulness of
this method of representing the vowels, but he
had, in fact, found the most serviceable arrange-
ment. When this vowel scale was decided on,
it was clear that the new method of shorthand
36 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
must be " writing by sound," and that the same
principle must be followed in the construction of
the remaining portions of the system. " I saw
the truth/' he exclaims, " practised it, and it
became delightful. In a few months I got clear
of the shallow waters and breakers of our present
orthography, and committed myself to the
boundless deep of phonographic writing. "
The story of the invention of his alphabet for
representing the consonant sounds of the language
has been several times told by Isaac Pitman. It
was related in detail in a paper entitled " The
Genesis of Phonography," which he read on 28th
September, 1887, at the first International Short-
hand Congress held in London, when, after
remarking that the system was " on the anvil " for
six months, he said :
" The shorthand alphabet given in the first
edition of Phonography contains the elements of
the present matured system, but in several of its
details it was imperfect, because it proceeded from
a finite mind. These imperfections were dis-
covered by experience and removed. As a skilful
anatomist can, from three or four bones, construct
the entire skeleton of an animal, so from three or
four shorthand signs or letters that have been
acknowledged from the commencement of short-
hand writing as the best for certain letters, we can
construct a natural shorthand alphabet. The
three leading bones in the shorthand skeleton are
| t, >~* n$ ^ Ts struck upwards. The form or
direction of stroke in t determines all the other
letters of the same class. They must be either
CONSONANT SIGNS 37
/py I h \ cAay, &, or \ p3 \ t, / chay, — k.
The first set was adopted in the first edition of
Phonography (but chay was curved instead of
straight) and the second and more practical set in
the second and subsequent editions. The posi-
tions of the four right lines to represent the
explodent consonants determine the positions of
the curves to represent the continuant consonants
that are made with the same organs. Thus, v_ /
(labial, written in the same direction as the labial
\ p), ( ith, ) s (dental letters, written in the
same direction as the dental t), J ish, (a palatal
written in the direction of the palatal / chay).
These light letters for light sounds determine the
forms of the corresponding heavy sounds, which
are represented by corresponding heavy letters,
namely : —
\ b, | d, I j, gay, V. v, ( thee, ) zee, J zhee.
i(N ^ is settled in this form by shorthand usage,
and this determines the form of m, because the
two letters frequently follow each other as
<*w mn, ^^ nm. The nasal ^ ng is related to n,
and is written thus. The two liquids / and r are
letters of frequent occurrence, and require the
convenience of strokes that have both an upward
and downward movement, that they may con-
veniently unite with other consonants. This
double direction is provided by giving r the spare
downward curve "^ r, in addition to its historically
settled form ^ r. L T is represented by a curve
in the r direction, written either up or down.
There remain but three other letters to consider,
namely, the two hybrids or vowel-consonant
letters w, y, and the aspirate h. W </ and y S
receive forms from what may be called the waste
material of the pi and pr series of double
38 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
consonants ; and the aspirate takes the two forms
/ «i-* which are two unused signs taken from the
spy series of treble consonants. Thus the short-
hand alphabet is complete, and there is a good
reason why every stroke should represent the
letter to which it is assigned. The making of the
phonographic alphabet is really another version
of Columbus's egg. Anybody could make an egg
stand on end by first giving it a tap on the table ;
and a ' schoolboy ' could have made the phono-
graphic alphabet if he had noticed the three letters
I t, w n, ^ r, running through the history of
shorthand, and had put all the other letters in
their places by the side of these three, paying
regard to the placing of the straight lines and
curves in the four possible directions corresponding
to the four seats of articulation in the mouth for
the production of consonants, namely, the lips,
teeth, palate, and throat ; and allowing the
gutturals and nasals both to take the horizontal
direction."
The consonant portion of the alphabet of 1837
differs, as indicated above, from the " more
practical " allocation adopted after the system
had been in actual use. Further, the inventor
was content with the arrangement 6, d, /, g, and
so forth, following the order of the Roman letters,
but he promised an " alphabet according to
nature " if the first presentation of his system met
with acceptance. This anticipation was happily
fulfilled, and in subsequent editions the consonants
were arranged in their natural order, p, b ; t, d ;
ch, ;, and so on. But the three distinctive merits
THE HOOKS 39
of Isaac Pitman's treatment of the consonants
were exhibited in his first work, namely, (1) an
extension in the number of characters which
(following the analysis of Walker) gave a sign for
each consonant sound ; (2) an economy of steno-
graphic material, by using light and heavy strokes
respectively for the paired sounds ; and, (3) the
production of an alphabet of simple strokes for
single consonants, thus rendering possible a super-
structure of abbreviating devices for indicating
two or more consonants by a single inflection,
which is a distinguishing merit of the system.
In regard to the last named point, we have in
the first edition the introduction of the hook signs
which so greatly aid the writer, by enabling him
to represent two characters by a hook attached to
a stem. The representation of the frequent
recurrence of I or r with other consonants was, for
example, provided for in this way. The large
initial hook standing for tw or dm was, however,
soon discarded, though it has survived in America.
In imitation of some older systems, " Stenographic
Sound-Hand " was provided with certain arbitrary
characters bearing no resemblance to alphabetical
signs, but these happily disappeared from all
subsequent editions. In a crude fashion — follow-
ing the lead of older systems — the consonant
signs were allocated to the representation of
common words, but a far better and a more
scientific method of representing words of
frequent occurrence was adopted later on in the
40 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" Grammalogues." There is a suggestion relative to
a method of contracting frequently occurring words
with long outlines, but the plan was not of practical
utility, and was not a feature of subsequent
editions. The method of " phrasing," by which
the signs for several words are written without
lifting the pen — one of the most successful features
of the Pitman system — is suggested in a direction
on " joining little words together." The advan-
tages of halving or doubling the length of characters
was not yet recognized by Isaac Pitman, who
refers to the principle as "objectionable."1 In
this and in many other directions, the practical
experience of subsequent years suggested useful
improvements and additions to the Pitmanic
system which were undreamt of by its inventor in
1837. In later years he was disposed to charac-
terize his first essay in shorthand authorship as
crude and imperfect, and so by comparison with
later editions it undoubtedly is, but sufficient has
been said to show that " Stenographic Sound-
Hand " contained the fruitful germs from which
the perfected system sprang.
The new shorthand system was introduced to
the world in the form of a booklet of crown
16mo size (3J in. by 5 in.), consisting of twelve
pages of letter-press and two lithographed plates,
enclosed in a drab cover of thin cardboard,, on the
1 Before he left Wotton, however, Isaac Pitman had tested the
halving principle and decided to adopt it. He wrote the Bible in
his system from the reading of his brother Henry, and in this
experiment employed the half-length device.
TITLE AND COVER OF " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND
PUBLISHED IN 1837
FIRST PUBLICATION 41
front of which was a label bearing the only title
the treatise possessed.
The production of this small work appears to
have been a dual effort on the part of author and
publisher. The plates were printed at the estab-
lishment of Bedford, a Bristol lithographer.
They were executed under the personal supervision
of the author — a precaution absolutely necessary
to ensure the accuracy of the characters — and this
part of the work is from a technical point of view
of considerable excellence. The letter-press part
was printed in London, by the firm of Stevens and
Pardon, of Bell Yard, and was no doubt arranged
for by the publisher. The edition was one of three
thousand, and the author undertook himself to
get his book placed in covers and stitched. The
first portion of the edition was despatched to
Mr. Bagster from Wotton on 14th November, and
on the following day, the 15th November, 1837,
" Stenographic Sound-Hand " was published in
London. In a letter written to Mr. Bagster on
the date first named, Isaac Pitman communicated
the following particulars to his publisher :
" I have sent," he wrote/' 200 ' Stenographies ' for
present sale, and the rest, to make up 1,500, will
follow by wagon in about a week. I think I shall
want 1,500 for myself. Please let me know in a
month or two how they sell. I must beg pardon
for the manner of sewing in this 200. The next
will be dark coloured thread, and done properly.
Also the labels will be more nearly in the centre.
The stitching was done by the elder boys in my
42 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
school, who have learned the system. They are
quite delighted to spend two or three days in this
sort of half play. Since this first essay we have
had a lesson on the subject from a stationer/ '
Before its publication, the new system of short-
hand had been extensively used by its inventor.
In Isaac Pitman's letter book (previously kept in
Taylor's system) he made the first entry in his own
phonographic method on the 7th September, 1837,
all subsequent entries being recorded in it. His
elder brother Jacob (who left London for South
Australia in the month in which " Stenographic
Sound-Hand " was published), took 100 copies
from Bagster's with him to Adelaide, and made
himself proficient in the system. Joseph Pitman
was presented with a copy on 16th November,
" with the author's affectionate respects," and
soon after became a skilful writer of the method.
Benn and Henry at Wotton had watched every
step of their elder brother's inventive efforts, and
had learned " Sound-Hand " while it was still in
the manuscript. " Before the system was suffi-
ciently developed to warrant its publication,"
writes Benn Pitman, " my brother Isaac and I
prepared a set of cards, containing the alphabet,
exercises, and reading practice, from which I
taught a class of more than twenty boys in the
school. I was then only between fourteen and
fifteen years of age, but my brother manifested full
confidence in my acquaintance with the system,
for he sent me to Bristol, then a full day's journey
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IMPROVEMENTS 43
from Wotton-under-Edge, to superintend the
correction of the plates that accompanied the first
edition of Isaac Pitman's c Phonetic Shorthand/ "
Not long after its appearance, Samuel Pitman,
father of the inventor, who was then in his fiftieth
year, learned the system and, after a few days'
practice, wrote a letter in its characters. Isaac's
brothers and sisters all acquired the art.
The Pitmanic system was introduced to the
world quietly and without advertisement. As far
as can be discovered its author engaged in no
special efforts to make it known. He was, indeed,
far more concerned in effecting improvements in
his work for the contemplated second edition. In
association with the statement of Benn Pitman
quoted above, it is curious to note that Isaac
Pitman in its pages speaks of his first work as
" this card " which, he adds, " contains the
principles and is thrown out as a feeler" For a
little over eighteen months after the publication of
" Stenographic Sound-Hand " he continued to
reside at Wotton, and at the close of this period
the first edition of his system was almost
exhausted. As has been more than once pointed
out, the sale of " Stenographic Sound-Hand " was
without doubt greatly promoted by the fact that
the book was issued by the eminent Bible publisher
of Paternoster Row, whose name was a guaranty
that the work which bore it was of a meritorious
kind, and not of a " catchpenny " nature.
V
SETTLEMENT IN BATH AND PUBLICATION OF
" PHONOGRAPHY "
1839-1840
On the 30th June, 1839, Isaac Pitman took up
his residence at No. 5 Nelson Place, Bath, and in
this Western city he made his home for the rest
of his life. Several reasons appear to have influ-
enced him in his settlement at Bath on leaving
Wotton-under-Edge. He was not insensible to
the beauties which Nature and Art have lavishly
bestowed on the " Queen of the West," for not
long after he wrote : "Of the many beautiful
cities in this fair country, Bath is unquestionably
the most beautiful/' and he proceeded to describe
its characteristic features in eloquent terms of
appreciation. He probably also regarded Bath
as a suitable place for the establishment of a
private school. Yet another, and without doubt
an important consideration, was the fact that
there had been founded in Bath ten years before
a society of receivers of the doctrines of Sweden-
borg, which under the name of the New Church
has had a continuous existence down to the present
day. At this period the Church worshipped in a
room in Chandos Buildings, and Isaac Pitman and
his wife were admitted into membership soon
after they settled in the city. In this congregation,
44
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NELSON PLACE, BATH 45
as the years passed, the Inventor of Phono-
graphy made lifelong friends, some of whom
became his valued assistants in enterprises which
have yet to be described in these pages. Mr.
James Keene, who was the New Church minister
(unpaid) at that time and for many succeeding
years, was also the editor of the oldest newspaper
in the city, Keene' s Bath Journal, established in
1742, of which the brothers John and James Keene
were the joint proprietors.
In one of his early periodicals Isaac Pitman
gave an illustrated account of his first Bath
residence at Nelson Place. He described it as
situated in the western part of Bath, and as,
together with Norfolk Crescent and the river
Avon (which flowed by), enclosing a triangular
lawn bordered with trees. The view from his
windows looking south over this lawn, and taking
in verdant fields gradually rising to Combe Down,
is described in appreciative language and pro-
nounced " very fine." But since the time when
this description was penned, the " verdant fields "
have been largely obscured from view by the
growth of suburban Bath. At Nelson Place he
opened a " school for young gentlemen/' and one
of the privileges of the boarders, which he men-
tions in the circular he issued, is that of " walking
in the lawn in front of the house/ ' The usual
subjects were taught in his school, with, in
addition, the author's system of " writing by
sound."
46 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
During the summer of 1839 — probably in the
Midsummer school holidays of three weeks — Isaac
Pitman visited his friend and publisher, Mr.
Samuel Bagster, at the latter's beautiful residence
at Old Windsor. One evening during his stay
with him they talked about the issue of a second
edition of the shorthand treatise, the first having
been by this time nearly exhausted. " We both
wished/' writes Isaac Pitman, " to give it a shorter
title than the lumbering one by which the first
edition was known — • Stenographic Sound-Hand/
I remarked that a compound of two Greek words,
(jxovrj^ sound or voice, and ypacfrv, writing, com-
bined as ' Phonography ' accurately described the
new method of writing, but the word was not in
existence in English. So I thought at the time.
1 That must be the title/ said Mr. Bagster, ' it is a
new name for a new thing.' " Having obtained
this emphatic approval of his proposed new title,
Isaac Pitman on the 7th of September, 1839,
issued a crown folio prospectus, which was printed
by the Messrs. Keene, announcing that the second
edition with the title " Phonography, or Writing
by Sound, being also a New and Improved System
of Short Hand/' was in preparation. There was
not the novelty about the word " Phonography '■
which Isaac Pitman and Mr. Bagster supposed
when they discussed the matter at Old Windsor.
In 1701 a certain John Jones, M.D., published a
work entitled " Practical Phonography/' which
was designed to assist persons to read and spell
DEVELOPMENTS 47
the ordinary longhand. But in 1839 Isaac Pitman
had very little, if any, acquaintance with the works
of any other author except Walker in the field of
phonetic science, though as regarded the steno-
graphic art he had a fairly representative collection
of the works of older and contemporary authors.
•
Some interesting glimpses of the development
of his own system by Isaac Pitman are afforded
in the prospectus before alluded to, in which we
are permitted, as it were, to see Phonography " in
the making/' In 1839, on the 3rd of January,
and again three months later, we find corre-
spondents writing to Isaac Pitman in his own
system, which they had learned from " Stenogra-
phic Sound-Hand/ ' and bearing enthusiastic testi-
mony to its excellence. To these communications
there is a foot-note by the author, who says that
since the dates of his correspondents' letters his
system has been " touched up and modified/' and
practised extensively for the sake of trial almost
every day (the entire Bible had, as already stated,
been transcribed by Isaac Pitman in the characters
of Sound-Hand). Then follows this significant
passage : "In the beginning of May about thirty
double consonants sprung up as of their own
accord, from principles previously acknowledged
as in the system ; nothing was deranged by this,
but they fell into their places, like the keystone
of an arch, and completed the whole." We are
further told that " the author of Phonography is
no mere theorist, but was a shorthand writer of
^
48 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
extensive practice before he published/ ' He
possessed, he says, over thirty of the previously
published systems of shorthand : " But they all
fail in the grand principle of giving a mark for
every sound, and never using it for any other.' '
He makes announcement in the same prospectus
of what, outside his own school, was probably the
first public class for the mastery of the system.
He notifies that he teaches a " Phonographic, or
Shorthand Class/ ' at the Mechanics' Institute,
No. 3 Bath Street, Bath, every Wednesday
evening, and announces that after school hours
he attends ladies and gentlemen at their own
residences for instruction in his art, while for those
at a distance postal tuition is offered. It is also
announced that : " The publication of Phono-
graphy is delayed for four months, that it may be
still more fully proved, and receive every amend-
ment it is capable of receiving before being
engraven in enduring steel."
In Isaac Pitman's second prospectus the pub-
lication of " Phonography " is announced as a
" Companion to the Penny Post." It is difficult
in the present day to realize the enthusiasm with
which the great boon of penny postage was greeted
when Rowland Hill's ideas were fully carried out,
and it became possible to send a letter under half
an ounce in weight for one penny. In response
to a Government offer of a prize of £200 for a
suggestion for the best method of collecting
the pence for prepaid letters, Isaac Pitman in
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THE PENNY POST 49
September, 1839, submitted to the Lords of the
Treasury a proposal for penny postage stamps,
printed from engraved plates in sheets containing
240, which could be used for affixing to letters, and
as remittances for small amounts. Benn Pitmap.
says that " he further recommended — and this was
the unlucky stroke of economy that proved his
undoing — that the stamps be used for sealing the
letter or envelope. The inconvenience of cancel-
ling the stamp, when affixed at the back of the
letter, gave the much coveted prize to another
competitor, who repeated Isaac's idea, but with
the suggestion that the stamps be affixed on the
face of the letter, at the upper right-hand corner,
as is the convenient practice of to-day.' ' When
it is remembered that the average cost of a letter
sent by post under the old arrangement was 9Jd.
for a single sheet of paper, no enclosure of any
kind being permitted, it will be seen how far-
reaching was the reform brought about by the
new regulations, which permitted anything in the
nature of written or printed matter to be sent
through the inland post at the rate of a penny
per half-ounce, and how beneficial the concession
was to Phonography and to other forms of popular
instruction in which written communications play
an important part.
The work of designing the " Penny Plate "
involved considerable ingenuity and labour. In
his early life Isaac Pitman had a great fondness
for minute writing, but the " Penny Plate " far
4—(2284)
50 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
surpassed his pen and ink efforts in this direction,
as will be seen. His original design for this
conspectus of his system was written with extreme
neatness within a ruled space 9 in. by 11 in. in
his letter book and journal, and this design was
produced very early in the year 1839. The head-
ing is as follows : " Phonography, or Writing by
Sound, being a New and Improved System of
Shorthand." The space is divided into four
quarters. In the top left-hand quarter is the
table of " Vowels," " Long " and " Short," and
" Double Vowels," in three parallel columns, and
underneath the table of " Consonants " in the
p, b ; t, d ; ch, /, order, thus arranged for the first
time in connection with English shorthand. In
the bottom left-hand quarter are the " Double
Consonants " of the pi, pr, order, etc., each char-
acter being designed as the logogram for represent-
ing several more or less common words. In the
top right-hand quarter is a a Joining Table of
Consonants " ; a table illustrative of the vowel
places, and the phonographic design which appears
at the top of the " Penny Plate." The bottom
right-hand quarter consists of two columns, one
containing Psalm I, the Lord's Prayer, and the
Lord's Invitation, in small shorthand characters,
and the other " Rules for Writing " in very small
longhand.
Although it is closely written, there is consider-
ably less matter in this manuscript presentation
of the second edition of his system than Isaac
THE PENNY PLATE 51
Pitman a few months later managed to pack into
a space of 6J in. by 8 in. on the " Penny Plate/ '
This steel plate was engraved by S. J. Lander, of
High Street, Bristol, and in order to secure
accuracy Isaac Pitman walked to and fro io
Bristol — a city distant eleven miles from Bath,
and as yet unconnected with it by railway — in
order to watch the engraver at work, a precaution
absolutely necessary in order to ensure accuracy.
Many of the characters in this closely packed plate
are so microscopical as to require a magnifying
glass to read them. The improvements in the
system are, however, fairly obvious to the initiated.
The table of consonants is arranged in the order
indicated above, which was for the future adopted
in the author's works, and initial hooks to the
consonant stems are systematically introduced to
represent the additions oil or r respectively. The
halving of consonant strokes to indicate the addi-
tion of t or d is first introduced. " The beautiful
discovery of the sets of double vowels, ye, ya,
yah ; we, wa, wah," also makes its first appearance
in the system. It is stated on the " Penny
Plate " that it was " invented and drawn by Isaac
Pitman," and it also bears the name of his
London publisher.
This production formed the Second Edition of
the system and was published on the day Penny
Postage was introduced, namely, the 10th January,
1840. A copy of the plate came into the hands
of Mr. Reed, then a thirteen years old schoolboy
52 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
at Bristol. " I found it," he says, u too hard
a nut to crack. The system was presented in so
condensed a form, and with so few explanations,
that I laid it aside as transcending my powers of
comprehension.' ' The majority of people, we
believe, concur in Mr. Reed's opinion, and the
prospect of Phonography achieving its future
triumphs would have been meagre indeed had the
system only been presented to the public in what
its author termed a " minutely engraved plate."
But the cheerful faith of Isaac Pitman's publisher
in the new system must be recorded here. At
this time Mr. Samuel Bagster expressed his
appreciation of Phonography in the following
verse —
Artists and scribes no more delight,
Their arts imperfect found,
Daguerre now draws by rays of Light,
And Pitman writes by Sound.
V. T (MatSi Rev.2/Jas additional exercises (f LONDON ' S. Bagster, IS, Paternoster Row. IS46
o
^3
these
yard
wei,
s is
assi-
ilfol-
1 01
~ece-
ncyi
wan)
s, ff.r
"7
V7 %
'.mts
sh
■-'/^;>
Mats
zh
/I//I/I©
v
\S.When sh wl 5/<7/?</.ralone. ccv/tf/ ^e
vowe-ls 'places downwards, as shoe^
law ^ allow .^ When either letter is
joined to the loop s only write it
downwards. as issues^ lace £ sale T
\9.Maker and shn with a tick when
either letter stands alone osor/rye S
ocean y i when it is succeeded by the
loop s only, as arise s~a\rs ?" oceans f
20. The letters chn & rch must never
stand alone, /7or w/VA Me loop s
only added, because fff sht & rl
21. fac^ letter in the, Alphabet stands
for the words put to it. (except the
examples in short hand). & all others
of the same sound , as " I and eye,&c
for other words write all the consonant
that sound. (Joining them together,) k
theprincipal vowels, as appeared \
22. S may be added to an Alphabetical
word without taking off the pen.
as words J thoughts C hands o
thinks "J Offier/etters must be sepa-
rated.as established ), distinction^
23.7he horizontal^ half sized const'
(km. n die), when representing words,
stand at the to p of the line for words
contain,3 first place vowe/s, and at
the bottom for words cont9 second k
third place vowels. In the Alphabet,
these words are divided by a coion.
24. /Ill middle place vowe/sto.wa., kc)
when standing a\ont.go at the bottom
of the line, as away < yet., one >
25. Compound words must be redu-
ced to their primitives, and written
near together as within c without ci j
altogether" somewhatr-.' yourselves--.
26 Disjoin Prefixes & Affixes, as
nterest'f Phonography 'vr or \ —
For a p\ura\-affix add ' s, as subscrip-
tions^ tenements i-"* earldoms <A
27 Com k con are written by a light
dot before. the next cons.r<w comply
^ consider'1 &accom by a hea\ y dot".
as accommodate j' accomplished \;
28 For \n^piifo' small dot after
the last consTtf-r star\\n^fhcp/ural
intfs/jrtf large dot. as workings — =•
23 If a word reaches too tow nr
does not yom .well, lake off the pen,
as constituted [ j chargeable /
30 Choose the best manner of writing
a word. as pa rt 1 not) a rmor/~^not .«—>•'
31 Generally omit h, for the sake
of brevity, as comprehensi\ ^ j^
32 A \\rst place vowel, stand/ nq at
the begi n n i n 6 of a word, should be
written in point of time, before the const
to which if is placed, as peaceable^
33 FICURLS. Write the digits thus.
0. t, 2. 3. 4. S. 6. 7. & 9.
( , s C V. V. °> 7 I ^
fut all other numbers in short-
hand words, as 20 J' "^ S° orjom
the digits, placing a line under,
as 3.96 L? 666\ 1840 \ 6862 I
34 STOPS. Confrna ' Semicolon :
Colon" Period ..or leave T 2 4 &1 inch
spaces. Hyphen... Irony f Fxcla ma-
il on\\)& all other stops k marks
as usual Italic .See Psalm 133.
Accent decent j! noble v\denyjL-
tar'ry IX present^ present ^ Inflec-
tions nst'faUScjIs itso or so?*'o'/y
35 Reader Practise S Persevere A \j°!
v:so.
cum,
'sttot.
ition,
hose
?ei
ip.
jj
\ \ re,
art.
/so,
lly,
Id.
M
M
Jzh
/,r
Jm
Jn
,rp
aft
«rd
atdl
„/rt
/
(JkeRuUIQ)
although.
We/sh <C~
^{co/or T
a /ready.
ALMIGHTY
fallen \j
/are. or,
our. recon,
sharps ^
suburbs^,
he -art, short,
Ward, heard.
church/accord^
charges/
work. \borg)H
bunrj, Sweden
*f
^
arv
^
orth
')
arth
)
ofsb
J
arzh
J
„r/
</
arm
^■s
,rn
^J
M
—
,m/>
^
9 .mt
i
./W
ml
m.r
^s
scarf ^~'\
preserve*^
earth, forth,
worthy,
marsh 'D
'+ \cctr/ed—~-
real rule,
form^oncerri
morning:
m'jppme.'may.
am. multi.ment
important,
meet might,
Q-mid-stmod-e.
[mercy.
Mrmerc:more
m
.nt
jfd
tnch
.ry
n,l
nr
:NG
.ngg
hi
on, any no.
wwnncOn unco™
want, i file • went
unto, irrtfS ante
hand under
frePctT)in<i i5
change/
journal,/,
norhenor-ab/e
thing. Engl???,.
language.
distinct,
think: thank.
single:angery~
he. htm had.
here [hood
SUMMARYoftheS/NCLPCOflS:sC?Mutesc9Semwowtds, 2L/guids, Z/Vasa/s.l Aspirate,.
Fhnodnce each of the bi TREBLE CONSONANTS ofonceas^psd \,.lpt Jarted -sirvd,&
Tor 6 fthepasttensejis added to a hooked letter by making it half length, as
tl ftld f titled ^rv^rvd^deservedJ^ fhesefreb/eCons*representfhe pasttenses of
the verbs placed totheDoub/eConsts from which they are derived as earned c-
tVote: spr^represenfs spmt-ual, strl strong, strength; skro— scri pt u r |
THE LORD'S INVITATION. Matthew//. 28 to 30. Written in full.
_^-s ,q <~^ '■ r M ( r\ < / "x ft v r r~v . A
29 L *">_»_ ^. . : ( 'G V ^ : V/ v _.. ^__ • ( KC ^ >|
< " J \ A -c, 7 r. 3,0 W ^ ^ } ■ 1 ' .( ^ V^ ) f
ical^ny Language may be written in Phonogy,with a tnflinq difference in the sound of some letters,
^french I ^y f ^7 L- I V ll^-L -<^w_^ T ~
V,
A
/erses from the B/b/e, leaving spaces between the lines for f he corrections .*
- ,.- I Drown by I. Pitman. J. Ale/son Place.. BATH. PRICE ONE PENNY. Mounted on Can vass & bound in Cloth, lehered.with two chapters from the N. T (MatSi Rev.2/Jas additional exercises I? LONDON S Boaster. IS, Paternoster Row /d40
:
i sound. at pique /pah/ ~\
lTset/&grf sat/iijiJVi1
sidht^y/rjT Fore writtV.at cough' V_
wS.«scityT"o/"Sh. as negoi "
; ' \ .or bias exist
3':as no\touS~^ibr q unfa k
one of the double rr/rebi
Ofl ■unir this letter /die w ho
■ c ospiralejos oueen' 'quart
e 1 w is o when commencing a
syllable, in which cose rhiy never occur
except m combination w id anoMer vowel.
A mil be found under the doubleitreble
i^iie/ro-r Yorkshire ^-V west? witV"^-
2. fspecio/lv observe the proper sound
of the short vowels, every one of which
in the common hand 'is out ot place-
thus, near I knit" agc/'edge/
psalm rf-N. Sam (Samoel)<— vrawK
rotf^l tone t- tun t_-pool V*" pullV^
3- Pronounce the vowels as they
sound in the alphabetical words
and examples placed to them. Fho-
nounce every consonant at once by
means of the small vowel put tg if
Leorn by heart the natural order of
the single vowels & single consonants
as be/on. New names art given to some
■ all cons? to express their
true sound, or to keep them in unisbn
4- Mark the difference between
sp& spr, sf& str, schA schr, sk & skn
< <, r i y / ^_ .-
at the commencement.ti/Ww'xo/tt'
ps& rps, fs&r+s. chs&rchs. ks&rks
s. \ l J / y _- — .
at the conclusion^/ words. See Joining Tabic
5. hool ma
. . / Sp| 51 ; i :
ktS-.rf'C. spr°N is instead of\r\s<lforiit
6. Vowels before ronsononts jre placed to
tlie left o/pcpei'dicularA leaning strvies.
as eat'l weifihrj wet 'I eyes")ape\owl
/z\r fond above horizontal strokes
as eagers — aim^sAnne^
7. Vowels after cons.!' go to the right,
or u n d er. as J oy/*toe h h igrlN 0 ov. —
O. The vowelS' places are counted
from the be(5i n n i n g of the consist d
their derivatives take the first place,
os she-V^daw T plv
#->roya\jf a o. ^ M«//r derivatives
second /'/aci; ?r middle <?/
//^e cons' as a i I A o a H u pperXache_=_
ozry and aoJ Me/V derivatives ho vt
the. th ird /vi?c ■ o - end <?j Pa N. I oo <"
due I. nowv^i housed, youth .(
9. When 3.04O oVe ^*// to cons'?
they may poml any «ay, when
they stand alone for weds they
always leanlo the i lghf.<7.s whom n
10. A vowel between" two cons!?
(& neither of them rjit ■ ' |
placed thus r. fir si oi sei oi
up *n/ after th< : wteamL
cord'-] Tweedl''"tle X ved't net^l
boat^ A third'.
the last cons.'o.fTackA-' loOTi£~xluke
L» man -^_;- mouthy shaft „y
11. The loopi dol s lolleno vowe/.A.
when a vowel is put close to one. it
belongs to the cons! connected with
if.as pass\<J secure i_^2 sickle s
12. /r two vowels come between Uvo
cons" give one to eq~ch. os poe+^j
7
r^«
r always a double
r It cons.'..) to a
lerter in the s a m e d i-
rection, buttt-
single cons" fo
take off the pen osfdd
orK.. not^-- steam
ted J
and
beforer.is curved thus <
as nation ^J~ portion
\r m is s lona rv <~srf
1 3". When two vowels
wend a went
ll/he Otht ■
tonceos lots 'I. oasis
Isaiah' V v
SA.A/everjoin a short
straight letter (which r_
v_; or v . rial v_ si
:d'C-.^f/7(7/[starte
15. Sri n after nir.
rv
tz
-c
£/ "i" C
TH
v\
.':,
PHONOGRAPHY,
OR
WRITING by SOUND,
being also A New& Natural
5 YS TEM
SHORT HAND,
..r/*/W«/ ty SJ.Lo*4tr.hql>S:B"r*l.
t/it stroke s in these
coses only . wht
ontains only sha V- wel,
os ves)sigh) when s is
' repeated as ' sase, assi-
zes I also whir
begins n
owed by s.«n I
ends withavi'vii i \
ct
TXZ
yy.
zz
%yy
i ■
VlVIVjV
rvr^a
4>
:^j
PrDI
%^
~A
ded bys.as tendfnc>)
.(' whenever you wont
topufavov<e\.to >. as
sumptuous^.
\7.dll ruls rtlatny 'Mo
the sharp con
p. t.ch, k.f. li
are also apps
their correspond1' tats,
b. d, j, g. v tb . L zh
'.'„,/..'.; !,',
I'.-
I »
I
«».rji:i
\r-\r
v- yvlv
m
m
\%.When %hor\ stands alone, count the
vowels' places downwards, as shoe J
law fallow .C When either letter is
joined to the loop s only write it
downwards. as issues^ lace f sale 'f*
I9./*/i7 ke\ and slin with a tick when
either letter stands alone osoc/ rye if
oceans / when it is succeeded bv the
loop s only. as arise </"airs f oceans ?■
20. The letters- chn %, rch must never
Stand alone, nor with the loop S
only added because of ^sht k rl
21. Each letter in the Alphabet stands
for the words put to it /except the
ex.arhples in short hand), b all others
of the same sound, as " 1 and eye,&c
fo r ether words write all the consonant
that sound. (Joining them together.) k
the principal vowels, as appeared \
22. S may be added to an /l/phabelicai
word without to king off the pen.
os words J thoughts C hands o
thinks Ofherlctterj must be sepo-
ratedas established ), distinction^
23.lhe horizontal^ half sized cons*?
(k.m.nd.&c). when representing words,
stand ot the to p of the line '■
contain? first place vowe/s. and at
the bottom for words cont? second &
Th i r ^d place vowels. In the Alphabet,
these words are divided by a colon.
24. All middle^ lace vowel:
when standing a\c,r\t,go althe bottom
of the line, as away < yet. one .
25. Compound words must be redu-
ced to their primitives, and written
near together as within' without cl
altodertier" somewhat^' yourselves.*!
26 Disjoin Prefixes X Affixes u
interest'f Phonograp1 — —
for a p\ora\-off/x add 's, as subscnp
tionsXj tenements ^earldoms A
27 Corn icon are written by a light
dot before. the i.ornplv
''consider'1 Aaccore byo hea
-nmodale j- accomplished \j
28 for \r\^puto' small dot after
the last consT<7x stai-tind \rhtplurol
in 6s is a larjje dot. as workings — >.
29 If a word reaches too Tow. or
does not join pell, take off the pen
as constituted J J charges I- c /(
30 Choose the best manner -
a word. as part ) not ^ a rmor/~ - .
31 Generally ornir h. for rh.
of brevity, as compreher- ^
32 Af\rs\ place vowel standing at
the beginning of a word should be
written in point of time, before the cons!
to which it is placed as peaceable \
33 FICURLS. Write the digits thus.
0. /, 2. 3. 4. cS. 6. 7, c9. 9
c , . C V. ^ o) s | ^
fut a/1 other numbers in short-
hand words, as 20 ■) 4S^y or join
the digi/s. placing a line under,
os 396 O 666X I84C { 6662 I
34 STOPS. Confrna '' Serntcolon ~
Colon" Period., or leave T t J i I inch
spaces Hyphen... Irony f txclama-
ail other stops & marks
as usual Italic See Psalm /33.
Accent decent J.' noble v^denyJL-
■ /n flec-
tions nsr-'fall'wls itsd or t'f" o ' /V-.
iSPeader • Practised ftrsevene .1 . .
12
r
r,
a ■
A .
d
0 s
0 ^
J,
a '
rl
0 v
0 -
,Vi
JBffl_.
m
¥*
MILL
ML
¥A
WA
A d
VOWLLS
the, see.
say. mate, "1
a. Bath, ^>
all. awe, ought,
0, note.^\
to. who-m,
in. it. sin i^-
n?ef~~\ sent <•
and. an at
of, not
nut^X si/n<L±s
put sfiou/d-sf
IS The underlined letters
indicate the sounds of
the vowe/s. Letters mork-
ed thus * are foreign I Wl 1 \(r>ke)
^provincial sounds. lM£mJ(bkb) + [wjne
psalm mo ^_ . <y^ cY'> 2 "^
°V V v °> *y co^ '^r- . c ° ''
AV 3 v ' ° _ ' ^> • ^f . «
¥*
j.
?-<2
32DOUBLEVOWE LSfc,»*r ™* '«., ti
ye. year-s
Yates -t \WL
^[yawl^y- V|jM
yjlwn c_,
yoke _c
(eo) you-r-s
* (new, lube l^
yel; ye'sTer-
yjrdJs [day,
beyond,
young young-<
* Ister ^
(U) I. by. th'?'
* (pine N_ *
wq\'
LM
01
OIL
we. between,
a way, where
* [wo IP J— >
water wall f
woe, wove K
woo woi>f\
wjlh, wi/Jr
well, when.
Thwack) ( <
was? what,
were won.
would ' - sf.
(at) voice, [how.
(db) thojj. about
:8TREBLEjv^lWELS x«n,^ha, ,rth.rt.
wht mi \-\am \»mj)4
lilt doll {I'm whet n b*/>n Ih. 22 S I
P.
uUL
(dab) wound, (did
r c -o _\°
. o yi,< ' y
<A
■ A c 1 ^\ - y~ ' n ! 2 ) f~ '
ZL iiL\m~%*L^')'rS 'V
PSAlM/J3\ a _ .
*c^> \ I ( / ' ) \
THE LORD'S PRAY Eft Mafthew.6.9to/3. Ornamental
y \/ j
*f
-
,
u
-^_
,)\ fc
'k v
1
■pt
Rl
fir
B.
BJ
U
Tr
t,n
D..
<M
/>.
dn
CH
*hl
chl
ckr
chn
J,
.jd\
(J
/
J'
up. upon,
wrapped/^
princtp/e.
bvd/c/yl>orl,omj'
Se-en, but.
before, bility.
'robbed y
uvbli^readth.
re-tn ember,
out time.
/,'//, /ttt/e.
truth, tra'ns,
ten. town,
day. do,ne,
disooS"; dom.
deii ver-y
dear D.r
down. London,
which. \Cs)
fetched \
children.
nature
auesfton-rj
dEsus,ger>eroi
obliged \
individual
Jerusalem
margm^>
Jd
K.I
Kr
kn
.ad
CJ
C.r
NCLEA96 DOUBLE CONSONANTS,*^
Ke
Jt
Rt
K.
Rr\ *N
£n
Ve
M
W
?r
v.n
IH
M
W.i
IB.
thA
th
king: co"l
object: fStfect.
calicalculat'n
CriRIST/COrfy
can nor: can.
gtve-n: gave,
go. together
God: good,
g/or,fy g/ad,
great graphs
beginning:
again - st,
for if off fori,
after, left f^
full, follow,
from, fre.-
often. (auent,
have, Iver,
lo ved. f^
evil, volume,
e-veiy.bdvanlf
even: heaven,
thoughthath.
Bethel ^
through
that the?
f<ered"t
their whether )
S
SH
.shl
sh.l
SMi
shn
ZH
.zha
zhl
zh,r
z/i,n
eL
JP
J 6
.ft
Jd
Jch
Jj
.Ik
V
Jf
J\
M
t\us^US.
)
resolve A.
health.
Jit
M
.'zh
I
Jm
Jn
S<
IJeeP
•rp
.rb
«rt
,rch
/
UlSj)
\
\
J
i
y
/
although.
Welsh y
^[color T
a /ready.
ALMIGHTY
fallen ^
/are. or,
our, reco™'
sharp t <!
suburb s\
he -art short,
wZrd heard.
chutrh/fyecord?
charges/
work. \borg^L,
burr). Sweden
,rf
a-rv
,Hh
.rth
<,rsb
*rzh
,rf
,rm
.rn
rM
.mp
.mf
.mxt
jid
jxP
-"J
nJ
nr
IrNC
scarf °~\
preserve^
earth, forth
worthy.
marsh O
H- (curled—*
real, rule,
tbrmtyncern?
morning:
m'J" 'me: may.
am multi ment
important,
meetmight,
o-fnid-st:tnod-e\
(mercy H.
\Mr mere: more. II h.
SUMMAPYofme^t/vafCOt/ST'iSMt/tescPSetritvowels, 2 Liquids, ?>h/aso/s /Aspirate.
fhaot/nceeachofthebSTRlBUL CONSONANTS«ra«g«jNpirdv.JptJ.rt,d ->irvd."
Tord fthepast tense) is added to a hooked letter by ma/ang it half length, as\
tl f tld f titled (IV* rvd ^deserved \\ These Treble Cons^representthe past tenses o.
theverbsp/acedtotheDou6/eCons/sfrvrnwhichtheyaredenvedos carried -
Note spr^.represenfs spiritual strl strong, strength; skr«— script ur,_
THE LORD'S INVITATION Matthew II. 28 to 30. Wtitten in full.
N
saw soaeiv.so.
seiiJc.o cum,
esiob/ish.cei'stiui
system. 5cri|ition,
h-ish-as whose
it is. Isr iei
sha// sup.
wash el.
e-spectn/{s'ure.
assure, share.
auction^
enthustosrrli
* (azure M
usuai
treasury \.
occasion^/
LORD. C IsO,
he/p.Qy. aWy,
e/bow ~<.
difficui ~ i
Ao/d world
ftlchylo'd\
rndu/g,'.)
mt/P *- __^
\mlf\
alphabetical Any Language mo, be wntten infhonog'witholnflinq difference in the sound of
or an\ ■
WMincoTunco
want into went
unto, irrtg ant
hand under
Rnench~)h\d?
change,/
journal^
nor henor-ab/e
thing.Engl^
language
distinct
think: thank
smgle.ang
he htm ha,
here hood
( " y \ A k/ V.30 w
) ) c \ J ) t '
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VI
BEGINNING OF THE PROPAGANDA AND " THE
PHONOGRAPHIC JOURNAL "
1840-1842
The introduQtion of penny postage enabled Isaac
Pitman to conduct through the post an active
propaganda on behalf of the art he had invented.
He first sought to interest the schoolmasters of
Somerset and Gloucestershire by sending to each
a copy of the "Penny Plate/' with the request
that they would either study it themselves or hand
it to any pupil who was likely to take an interest
in the art. There was undoubted novelty in the
issue of a system of shorthand which was entirely
comprised on a steel plate of moderate dimensions,
and letters to the inventor which have been pre-
served show that in the early months of 1840 his
heart was cheered by appreciative communications
from many quarters. Then the statement on the
plate that " any person may receive lessons
from the author by post gratuitously/' resulted
in numerous inquiries. x And when postage stamps
were introduced in^ connection with the penny
post early in May, 1840, Isaac Pitman issued
The earliest impressions bore the words, " Any person may-
receive lessons from the Author by post at Is. each to be paid
in advance, and enclosed in a paid letter," but in two or three
months' time the plate was altered by substituting the above
word. ..... ... ....
53
54 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the following announcement : " The Author
will also feel great pleasure in correcting gratuit-
ously, any shorthand exercise or lesson that may
be forwarded to him. After the student has
learned the shorthand letters, committed to
memory the words which they represent, and
read through the exercises, he may write a portion
of Scripture, and forward it to the Author, with a
postage stamp enclosed. The lesson will be re-
turned corrected, with observations and references
to the rules for writing/ '
At the end of 1840 Isaac Pitman with timely
sagacity published the Third Edition of his
system, in the form of a demy 8vo text-book
with printed rules and explanations, illustrated
by phonographic characters engraved on wood.
Similar matter was also issued as a quarto sheet
printed on both sides. For the first time in
English stenographic treatises, the rules for writing
the system were illustrated by shorthand char-
acters printed in the letter -press, instead of by
plates entirely apart from it, a singularly incon-
venient plan. A series of " Exercises " in phono-
graphic reading was also published in two forms —
either bound up with the text-book or issued
separately.
In the three weeks vacations of his school at
Christmas and Midsummer respectively, Isaac
Pitman travelled and lectured in connection with
his system. The first enterprise of this nature was
arranged for the Christmas holiday of 1840,
FIRST LECTURING TOUR 55
concerning which there is this entry in his letter
book : " Left home to lecture on Phonography, 23rd
December/ ' His return is noted on the following
15th January, 1841. This expedition was planned
on a considerable scale. Posters and leaflets were
arranged for, and a number of secretaries of
institutions were written to in regard to places of
meeting which might be used free of charge. An
itinerary containing the names of thirty-five towns
was drawn up, but for reasons not now discover-
able, a more limited tour seems to have been
actually carried out. Isaac Pitman has himself
told us that what happened was that he started
out from Bath early on the morning of 23rd
December, and walked over the snow-covered roads
to Stroud, thirty miles distant, carrying in his
knapsack a supply of phonographic literature
weighing 151b. He gave a lecture at Stroud, and
on the following day walked to Oxford, where he
visited most of the colleges, left copies of his
" Penny Plate " and other literature, proceeded
through High Wycombe and other towns to
London, and from thence returned to Bath.
Manchester was also visited during this tour,
and the art introduced to the inhabitants in a
series of lectures. Isaac Pitman's first visit to
this city, in which in subsequent years his short-
hand system has been so thoroughly appreciated
and so generally taught, has been rather strangely
overlooked. But the Inventor of Phonography
has himself preserved a complete record of it
56 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
in the form of a letter which he addressed to two
Manchester newspapers. The editors declined to
insert it, and its author's comment on this conduct
reveals the thoroughgoing reforming spirit in which
he had entered on the campaign. " Another
instance/' he writes, " is here added to the list
of persecutions which truth has had to endure
from the prejudice and selfishness of men." As
this is Isaac Pitman's first letter to the Press
concerning his system it is important, apart
from its biographical interest. We reproduce it
below :
" To the Editor.
" Sir, — At the commencement of the present
year four lectures were delivered by me in the
town of Manchester on Phonography, a method
of writing all languages by means of signs that
express sounds, two to the members of the
Mechanics' Institute, Cooper Street, and two to
the members of the Christian Institute in the
Town Hall, Grosvenor Square. They were well
received by the audiences, and the exposition
which I gave of this new science called forth
repeated plaudits. At the close of the last lecture
given in the Town Hall, Grosvenor Square, on the
evening of Tuesday, 12th January, Mr. P. B.
Templeton, a shorthand writer and author, and
formerly reporter for the Manchester Times, made
some remarks attempting to show the inutility and
even the impracticability of Phonography ! ! But
he could not persuade the audience to think with
him. During his address on the demerits of
Phonography (!) he laid down five points with
respect to the science : —
A CHALLENGE 57
1. That no more could be done by the phono-
graphic alphabet in the expression of sounds
than by the common alphabet.
2. That the system was applicable to no foreign
language.
3. That admitting it to be applicable to foreign
languages, it was of no value in the absence
of a knowledge of such languages.
4. That as a system of shorthand it was utterly
impracticable.
5. That, if at all practicable, it was less expedi-
tious by two-thirds than half-a-dozen systems
already published.
" Immediately after Mr. Templeton had brought
forward these false charges, before I had made
any reply, he gave me a challenge to prove the
worth of Phonography publicly, proposing that
its merits should be discussed in any large room in
Manchester, advertised in all the Manchester
papers, and that if he failed to establish each and
all of the five propositions, he was to bear the whole
expense of the room and the advertising, and in
addition would either be bound to purchase one
thousand copies of my book, or to pay £20 to the
Manchester Royal Infirmary.
" I answered that my time was much better
employed than in running about the country on
so foolish an errand, that I was so constantly
engaged in my school here in Bath, that I could
not accept the challenge, and that if I were other-
wise situated I would not, as I should be performing
a much greater service to society by teaching
Phonography than in trying to prove to Mr.
Templeton that it is a real science fit for the
expression of any language and is a system of
shorthand shorter than any other system extant.
58 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" I took down notes of the five charges (in the
c impracticable ' system of Phonography !) as they
came from his lips, and when he had done gave an
answer to them to the entire satisfaction of the
audience. My reply was this : —
" 1. That it is true the common alphabet can
express in a certain bungling way all the sounds
that Phonography can. But it is by the expedient
of using two letters to express one simple sound
with respect to both vowels and consonants, and
that in no less than ten instances — the names of
which two letters it must also be remembered have
little or no connection with the sound they are
made to represent. Thus, the two letters a u are
put together to signify the simple vowel sound
awe. It is also necessary to put over the vowels
the marks of quantity, a horizontal stroke to
signify the long sound and a curve to express the
short sound. In addition to this, in the common
alphabet the vowels and consonants, whether single
or double, are all placed together in complete
confusion, whereas in Phonography every sound
is placed in its true position, the whole forming the
nature alphabet. Every simple sound is expressed
by a simple mark, and every double and treble
sound derived from it is expressed by a mark
derived from the simple mark by some slight
change of form.
" 2. That Phonography was applicable to the
writing of all languages proof was given in the
published ' Exercises in Phonography/ wherein
the 100th Psalm was written in French, German,
Italian, Chinese, and Hebrew, every sound being
expressed by the appropriate phonographic sign
so perfectly that the professors of those languages
assured me there was no mistake whatever in the
A CRITIC ANSWERED 59
pronunciation. Proof of this fact has also been
given in Mr. Templeton' s hearing by the writing
of German and Welsh dictated by the audience.
"3. It was not professed that Phonography
imparted a knowledge of languages unknown
before ! It merely gave a means of expressing
them as to their very sounds on paper by the same
signs that are used to write English.
" 4. That Phonography was ' utterly imprac-
ticable ' was already shown to the meeting to be
1 utterly ' false by my having written with chalk
upon the blackboard two or three dozen separate
words and sentences which that very audience,
whose understanding Mr. Templeton was abusing,
had dictated. The practicability of Phonography
was also shown by the publication of a collection
of ' Exercises in Phonography/ at the cost of a
few pence, consisting of ten octavo pages of
extracts from Scripture, engraved in a bold style
of phonographic shorthand, and in which every
word was written correctly according to the
alphabet and the rules laid down in the system,
which was also in print at the cost of a penny for
one edition and eight pence for another. Anyone
on opening the ' Exercises ' would see that the
shorthand consisted of easy strokes which any
person could make who could handle a pen.
" 5. That I had a collection of about fifty
systems of shorthand, including every one of note
that had been published, and there was not one
of them that could be compared with Phonography
1 in point of expedition/ Mr. Templeton had not
named any system that was shorter, so I put my
assertion against his, having proved to the
audience in many instances that Phonography was
considerably briefer than his system.
60 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" After giving this answer to Mr. Templeton's
charges, and assuring him that I should accept his
challenge no further, he still opposed my system
of writing, and that in so violent and outrageous
a manner that he was hissed down by the audience.
Among other indecent expressions by which the
auditors felt disgusted, he said that Phonography
was an ' imposture ' and that I was ' foisting '
it upon the public. The people knew too much to
be willing to bear this ; I had been in the town
above a week, and had given four lectures, sold
many hundred copies of the work, and distributed
gratuitously several thousand publications, and
the system was sold in one form for a penny. In
teaching if anything it was evident to all that I
was not humbugging them and putting money in
my pocket. Mr. Templeton endured their scorn
as long as he could, his voice being frequently
drowned in hisses and the unqualified expression
of their contempt for his remarks, insomuch that
it was necessary for Mr. Grundy, Secretary to
the Christian Institute, and myself, to interfere
in order that he might obtain a hearing. He
could not possibly mistake the feeling of the
meeting.
" Indeed he felt the withering influence that was
around him, and spoke once to this effect :
" i If you will not hear what I have to say I cannot
help it, I am merely stating facts and they are for
your benefit/ However, he could not persuade
them that ' He, as an individual, could not have
the slightest possible reason for bearing me any
ill-will/ He said he bore me none, ' but having
been for some time connected with the Press, in
the capacity of a shorthand writer, he thought he
was sufficiently qualified to pronounce a decided
AN AMUSING INCIDENT 61
opinion on the merits of the system which had
been propounded/
" When he was leaving the room, the audience
insisted upon his recanting his expressions that
Phonography was an ' imposture ' and that it was
1 foisted ' upon the public. After a great deal of
talk to no purpose, wishing to avoid the recanta-
tion as the audience was determined to have it,
he at last admitted that he had spoken ' without
consideration ' or ' without due consideration/
He also acknowledged that he had not read
through the whole of my little book, and that he
did not understand it. Still he had had the
impudence to lay down the above five positions.
" Knowing what kind of ' farewell ' he would
receive from the company, he made up his mind
that on leaving he would order the people to do
what he well knew they were determined to do,
namely, to laugh at him. As he was leaving he
said, ' Now, gentlemen, laugh ! ' which they did
in good earnest, and then bought my books more
readily on account of the stir.
11 Now, Mr. Editor, you will ask, ' What is all
this to me or the Manchester public now the affair
is over ? ' Nothing at all, and so I thought at
the time, and never intended taking any notice
of it, feeling sure Mr. Templeton would not, and
that he would have more prudence than to publish
his own shame. Judge, then, sir, how surprised
I was the other day on receiving an article cut
from the Manchester Times of January 16th, and
measuring above a foot in length, entitled ' Phono-
graphic Lecturer's Extraordinary Challenge. ' In
this document (furnished by Mr. Templeton, I
suppose) I am described as having been completely
foiled. The charges and the challenge are given
62 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
in a style of triumph, Phonography is pronounced
by this knight of the quill to be ' the veriest mass
of absurdity that ever was written by mortal on
paper/ And it is said that after hearing the awful
charges brought against me, I ' looked considerably
astonished, declined the challenge, and after some
conversation of no interest, the matter ended/
" This ' conversation of no interest ' consisted
of a recantation which Mr. Templeton was com-
pelled to make, the loudly expressed reprobation
of the public for his course of conduct, and his
humiliating retreat. These things were, of course,
of ' no interest ' to him, but he should in his state-
ments respect the rights and feelings of others.
To me and to the audience they were of equal
interest with the false charges and the boasted
challenge. I thought the one was the balance of
the other, and intended to say nothing about the
matter.
" Instead of looking ' considerably astonished '
at Mr. Templeton's bravado, I was mightily
amused at the Quixotic expedition in which he had
embarked, and could not help smiling at it. Indeed,
it was remarked to me after the affair was over
that while he was speaking I looked an answer to
his heated vapouring, and that if I had not spoken
the audience would have been perfectly satisfied
that all the hubbub was nothing more than a little
professional rivalry and jealousy.
" I call on you, Mr. Editor, to do justice, not so
much to me and Phonography, as to truth and
honesty. A scandalous misrepresentation has
been put forth by the Press, and as an Englishman
I claim the privilege of being heard in my own
defence.
" ' But why did you not send this refutation to
SECOND LECTURING TOUR 63
Mr. Templeton's report as soon as the Times of
January 16th appeared ? ' I never saw it, nor
had an idea of its existence till above three months
after the time. I remain, Sir, Your obedient
servant,
" Isaac Pitman.
" 5 Nelson Place, Bath.
"5 May, 1841."
If we may judge from the correspondence re-
ceived a short time afterwards, the merits of
Phonography were fully recognized at Manchester.
Among incidents of the lectures was a demonstra-
tion of the ease with which a sentence in Greek,
dictated by a member of the audience, could be
recorded on the blackboard. This was done as a
proof of the fact that the " Alphabet of Nature "
was adapted to the representation of other
languages besides English. To a Manchester
correspondent, " T. W." (Walker) (who dictated
the Greek sentence), Isaac Pitman wrote : " It is
the author's intention to make known Phono-
graphy by lecturing and other means of instruc-
tion, in every town in the Kingdom, should the
Divine mercy give him length of days and
opportunity/'
During the Midsummer holiday of 1841, Isaac
Pitman undertook a second and longer lecturing
tour, spreading over twenty-three days, in the
course of which he visited and gave addresses
at Devizes, London, Ipswich, Norwich, Hull,
Barton-on-Humber, Leeds, York, Newcastle
64 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
(twice), Edinburgh (three times), and Glasgow.
He returned to London by steamer, and from
thence proceeded to Bath by the Great Western
Railway, which had been opened for traffic not
long before. Of this series of lectures Mr. Reed
has recorded some interesting impressions, which
have a unique interest from the fact that no other
account of them exists.
" At Edinburgh/' Mr. Reed says, " he could
only sell a few copies of the system. At Newcastle
he received greater encouragement. He had large
and attentive audiences, and made many converts,
one of them being the late Alderman T. P. Barkas,
who himself shortly afterwards became an active
propagandist of the new faith ; for as such it had
now come to be regarded ; and a bond of brother-
hood was established among its adherents. This
was largely due to Isaac Pitman's own indomitable
energy, his enthusiastic, yet quiet temperament,
and his profound belief in the ' cause ' which he
had initiated. At that time his highest hope was
the popularizing of shorthand His
shorthand scheme was propounded not as a mere
professional instrument in the hands of the re-
porter, or an occasional aid to the student, but as
a method of saving a large proportion of the time
ordinarily spent in writing. He boldly asserted
that his system was applicable to all, or almost all,
the purposes to which longhand is applied, and he
especially advocated its use for all kinds of
correspondence. Enforcing the maxim that ' to
PRESS NOTICES 65
save time is to prolong life/ he invited all his
countrymen to become phonographers, and waxed
eloquent on the benefits that would inevitably
flow therefrom/ '
One gratifying result of the visit to Edinburgh
was that the Brothers William and Robert
Chambers gave the new invention favourable
mention in their popular serial work, " Information
for the People." In No. 62, in which various
methods of communicating ideas were discussed,
Phonography was mentioned with approval, as
" it does away altogether with the tedious method
of spelling, because it has distinct signs for all the
sounds of the human voice.' ' The art had now
begun to attract the notice of the Press, and atten-
tion may here be called to an able review of the
system from the pen of Mr. Ebenezer Austin (1818-
1884) — afterwards a well-known Bristol shorthand
writer and journalist — which appeared in the
Bath and Cheltenham Gazette, on 27th July, 1841.
The superior utility of a system with " signs for
all the distinct sounds of the human voice, arranged
in their natural order," as compared with one
based on the " common roundabout way of spell-
ing/' was fully recognized, and the greater ease
and certainty with which Phonography could be
used was clearly pointed out. The reviewer ended
with a prediction which has been abundantly
fulfilled : " We are/' he wrote, " sanguine enough
to anticipate the day when Phonography will to a
great extent supersede every mode of abbreviated
5— (2284)
66 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
writing, and be the system of shorthand in general
use."
In the Christmas holidays of December, 1841,
and January, 1842, Isaac Pitman arranged another
lecturing tour, in the course of which he revisited
Manchester in December. At the office of Messrs.
Bradshaw & Blacklock he made his first acquaint-
ance with the art of lithography. George Brad-
shaw, the head of the firm, and a member of the
Society of Friends, was an engraver and litho-
grapher, and had just before started on a small
scale the railway time table with which his name
has since been identified. Keen interest in im-
proved means of producing his shorthand system
led Isaac Pitman to Mr. Bradshaw's office. The
method of producing lithographic matter by means
of transfer paper was explained to him, and he was
given a sheet. After an hour's trial with the
lithographic pen, he wrote at his lodgings eight
pages of transfer, forming No. 1 of the Phono-
graphic Journal, dated January 1842, and the
matter was printed by Messrs. Bradshaw and
Blacklock.
The first number of the first shorthand periodical
ever published m- this country opened with a
manifesto by its editor and lithographer setting
forth the objects for which the new journal was
established. One article dealt with the reasons
for giving the title only in the common style of
printing, and another article was given dealing
with the older systems of English shorthand. The
No.l
JANUARY. 1842.
Bice 2d or
3. by Postpaid.
mm
wmmmmmmm mwbrm*
FDITOR. Isaac Piftnan,. S.JVzLson Place-. BATH.
PUBLISHER Bagsler. 75. Patemostzr Row. LONDON
Sold also by all Booksellers
v. l
V, •)' ch_, x . ^
C 'I c
FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF
JOURNAL."
THE PHONOGRAPHIC
Key. — The sure word of prophecy uttered by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, " Behold
I make all things new." is every day receiving its fulfilment. Within the last eighty years
almost everything has been made anew, or is in progress towards it. But till within the last
four years nothing new has practically appeared in the art of writing. It is most remarkable
that that art which is the mainspring of all civilization, has remained stationary from the
very period of its introduction. This is, however, in accordance with the general law of order
prevailing throughout the universe, that the best things are of the slowest growth. We at
the present day communicate our ideas with no more rapidity than did the Romans, the
Greeks, and the Hebrews, except that we have more suitable materials for writing. By
leaving a space at the end of each word and ihe insertion of stops, we have an advantage over
them in reading, but in writing we have none. It must be acknowledged that something is
gained in the Greek and Roman alphabets, but chiefly in the small letters, compared with the
Hebrew, but this advantage is overbalanced with respect to ours and of the other nations
that have adopted the Roman alphabet through the introduction of a most " cumbrous
orthography," so that what we gain
"PHONOGRAPHIC JOURNAL" 67
last page was devoted to intelligence respecting
the progress of the art (at this time incorrectly
termed a " science ") which shows that, in spite
of the opposition already referred to, and the
hostility of the Manchester local press, the students
and practitioners of the art already numbered one
thousand. No. 1 of the Journal ran to a second
edition, and from this issue we quote below a
transcription of portions of the first article, as
follows : —
" Till within the last four years nothing new
has practically appeared in the art of writing. It is
most remarkable that that art which is the main-
spring of all civilization, has remained stationary
from the very period of its introduction. This is,
however, in accordance with the general law of
order prevailing throughout the universe, that the
best things are of the slowest growth. We at the
present day communicate our ideas with no more
rapidity than did the Romans, the Greeks, and the
Hebrews, except that we have more suitable
materials for writing. By leaving a space at the
end of each word and the insertion of stops, we
have an advantage over them in reading, but in
writing we have none. ...
" The following must suffice to show how concise
is the pronunciation of our beautiful English
tongue and how prolix is its orthography. Through
contains two letters, a double consonant and a
single vowel, yet it requires seven letters to express
it, t-h-r-o-u-g-h ! Weight consists of two sounds
but needs six letters in the common spelling,
w-e-i-g-h-t ! Here again neither of the letters
except the final t is heard in the word.
68 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" Stricken is composed of three letters, a treble
consonant, a single vowel and a double consonant,
but it requires eight signs to represent it to the
eye in the common way of writing, s-t-r-i-c-k-e-n !
Once more, though is formed of the two sounds
thee and o, but not less than six letters will express
the word in longhand — t-h-o-u-g-h.
" We may here be met with the remark that
shorthand has been known in England 250 years,
and that this is a great improvement in the art of
writing. * Why then has it not come into general
practice ? ' No other answer can be given than
this : ' Because it is impracticable according to any
of the systems that ever appeared previously to
c Phonography/ We shall often have the oppor-
tunity in our pages of showing the reason why
shorthand based upon a, b, c, cannot become
universal, and that it may become universal when
founded upon the phonetic principle.
" It is now only four years and a half since the
principles of Phonography began to be developed
to the mind of the editor of this Journal. In three
months, namely in Nov. 1837, it was given to the
world in a small work entitled 'Stenographic
Sound-Hand/ made as perfect as other and what
appeared more important engagements would
allow of. In Jan. 1840, it was republished with
considerable improvements, suggested during two
years' use of the science. . . .
" A new era has now dawned upon the science —
the establishment of this Journal — and we have
no doubt that the thousand phonographers that
are now in existence will be doubled during the
present year. This will be attributed chiefly to
this publication.
" The Journal will appear monthly, and we are
GLASGOW VISITED 69
confident that we shall receive the support of every
phonographer. The general expression of delight
which greeted the announcement of the work is a
pledge to us that it will be a source of pleasure
and usefulness to all readers of the science, and
one of the best means whereby to extend its
blessings to others. At the same time that it will
convey interesting phonographic intelligence, it will
give extensive practice in reading the science,
which is at present much needed.' '
Of the first number of the Phonographic Journal
one thousand copies were printed. Some hundreds
were circulated in Manchester, and a portion of
the impression was sent to Mr. Bagster, for
publication in London.
Isaac Pitman went from Manchester to Glasgow,
where he devoted the remainder of his winter
vacation to lecturing on and teaching Phono-
graphy. He reached Glasgow on the 7th and left
on the 20th January, and during that time
delivered six lectures at the following places,
namely, the Glasgow University, the Andersonian
University, the Grammar School, the Mechanics'
Institution, the Anderson Popular Institution, and
at Laurieston. From the audiences a total of
eighty entered on the study of Phonography, and
their instructor records that at the close of the
third lesson the greater part could write the system
with tolerable readiness. The lecture at the Uni-
versity was delivered in the Common Hall, and
was attended by about three hundred students ;
of these, thirty-three had a course of lessons at the
70 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
University, and a dozen attended other classes.
Before he left Glasgow, the following unsolicited
testimonial was handed to him, signed by two
distinguished professors of the University. It
was published by its recipient in his Journal
for February, 1842, and wa,s in the following
terms : —
Glasgow College,
ISth Jan., 1842.
We have examined with care and interest Mr. Pitman's
analysis of the sounds of language which is made the basis of
his system of Phonography, and we consider it not only
ingenious but also as founded throughout on correct philoso-
phical principles. His system of Phonography we have not
had time to examine, but as it rests on so good a basis, we can
have no doubt of its possessing great merit.
James Thomson.
William Ramsay.
Professor Thomson's two sons were instructed
in Phonography at their home. One of these
scholars, William, became the world famous
scientist, the late Lord Kelvin ; the other was the
late Professor James Thomson. Many years after
Isaac Pitman met his old pupil, Lord Kelvin, on a
visit of the latter to Bath, when he expressed
himself as still interested in Phonography, though
he had not kept up his practice of the art.
There were no further lecturing and teaching
tours undertaken by the Inventor of Phonography
in the school vacations. The success of the system
resulted in a large demand for instruction books,
THE "POCKET EDITION"
71
and these were produced in several styles and in
greatly improved form by Isaac Pitman during
1842. In this year the popular " Pocket Edition "
was brought out, and also the first text-book to
which the title of " Manual of Phonography " was
given. He had in addition to undertake single-
handed the literary work and the then novel task
«^ ~-> W f"Z — — *>
\oo^
Priced
DESIGN ON THE COVER OF THE " POCKET
EDITION" OF PHONOGRAPHY (1842)
of transfer writing of the pages of his monthly
Journal, issued in lithographed shorthand, and the
provision of a large amount of propagandist
literature in the ordinary print. All these pro-
ductions were printed and bound in Bath, under
the personal supervision of their author.
Mr. Joseph Pitman in the summer of 1841
entered the field as a travelling lecturer on and
72 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
teacher of his brother's system. In a tour in the
West of England, the city of Worcester was
visited, where the oldest existing English provincial
newspaper Berrow's Worcester Journal (founded in
1709) in its issue of 3rd February, 1842, pronounced
the new system to be " undoubtedly unique, clever,
and complete/ ' though it was not convinced of the
feasibility of phonetic writing. In 1842 Mr. Benn
Pitman came out as a phonographic lecturer.
Other instructors were at this time beginning to
issue circulars, and the regular teaching of the
system may be said to have definitely begun.
VII
THE WRITING AND SPELLING REFORM — THE FIRST
INSTITUTE
1843
At the beginning of 1843 Isaac Pitman discon-
tinued the private school he had conducted since
his settlement in Bath, in order that he might
devote his whole time to the production of the
various books, periodicals, and leaflets connected
with his system of Phonography, and early in the
year he added to the text-books already noticed
" The Reporter's Book " his first special adaptation
of the system to verbatim reporting. There was
now a steady and increasing demand for treatises
on the art, and a large portion of his time was
henceforward devoted to the production of suc-
cessive editions of his shorthand works. His
residence was now designated the " Phonographic
Institution M on his publications and on all that
he sent out. He had at this time a large corre-
spondence, which was swollen by great numbers
of exercises from learners sent for correction, and
involving a vast amount of voluntary labour. But
his work was attacked and disposed of from day to
day with unabated energy, and he was invariably
successful in imparting a portion of his own intense
enthusiasm for his invention to those who had
mastered it, who now numbered some thousands
73
74 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of active workers in all parts. Early in this year
(1843) a youthful disciple, destined to become a
famous exponent and writer of Phonography, paid
a visit to Nelson Place. Mr. Reed, the visitor in
question, was a boy of sixteen and living at Bristol
when he first saw Isaac Pitman. " He was then/'
Mr. Reed tells us, " a young man, tall, slim, active,
springy in all his movements/ ' and his cheerful,
ready explanation of the work to which he was
devoting all his time, from five or six in the morn-
ing till nine or ten at night, made a lasting
impression on young Reed.
Had it been possible, it was no longer necessary
for the Inventor of Phonography to travel and
lecture personally on his system, although at
intervals he attended gatherings of a special
character, as will be described in due course. A
number of additional lecturers had entered the
field early this year, while those already engaged
in such work were extremely active throughout
1843. In most of the towns they visited the
subject had the charm of novelty, and almost
invariably attracted large audiences, among whom
the fervent enthusiasm of the lecturers was
successful in enlisting a band of adherents who
afterwards practised and taught the art. The
early workers in this field (in addition to Joseph
and Benn Pitman) were George Withers, a nephew
of Mrs. Pitman ; T. A. Reed and F. E. Woodward,
afterwards partners in the well-known London
shorthand writing firm ; T. P. (afterwards
THE FIRST SOCIETY 75
Alderman) Barkas, of Newcastle-on-Tyne ; William
Hepworth Dixon, afterwards famous as an author
and editor (1853-69) of the Athenceum ; T. Walker,
of the Commercial Bank of England, Manchester ;
W. G. Ward, who afterwards became Mayor of
Nottingham ; and later on James Clarke, after-
wards editor and proprietor of the Christian
World; H. S. Brooke, J. H. Mogford, G. R.
Haywood, C. Sully, J. Hornsby, and F. Carson.
There were many others in all parts of Great
Britain who within a few years from this date
publicly lectured on and taught the system, and
among them were the two younger brothers of the
Inventor, Henry and Frederick Pitman.
A suggestion was made by Mr. Reed in February,
1843, which resulted in the establishment of the
first society in connection with the phonographic
art. He proposed to the Inventor that he should
" introduce, by letter, some friends whose time is
not fully occupied, to other friends in different
places, thereby establishing a correspondence
between phonographers in different parts of the
kingdom." " The same thing," Isaac Pitman
observed, " was proposed to us last year by another
correspondent, who very properly recommended
the Journal as the repository of the addresses of
such as wished thus to exchange ideas." He
expressed his full concurrence in Mr. Reed's
proposal, and observed that it would be well to
form a society entitled " The Phonographic Corre-
sponding Society," with the names and addresses
76 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of members published in the Journal, " the
society/' he added, " may be made very useful by
taking part of our own labours, which have really
become too heavy for any one person to perform
well. It is that of correcting the lessons of
learners through the post gratuitously/ ! In
response to an invitation twenty-seven individuals
sent their names and addresses. These were
published in the Journal for March, and thus
formed the first list of members of the new society.
By the end of 1843 there was a total of 300
members, and from this time onward the society
vastly increased in numbers and in usefulness.
But even in the pursuit of the most useful
branch of knowledge, human nature seems to be
so constituted that occasional relaxation is abso-
lutely necessary. A pause must be made now and
then in order to discover what progress has been
achieved, and to gain encouragement for renewed
exertions. It was for a purpose of this kind that
the phonographic festivals appear to have been
instituted. The first took place at Manchester on
15th March, 1843, and attracted 100 friends of
Phonography, who partook of tea and indulged in
speech-making. Mr. George Falkner, editor of
Bradshaw's Journal, was unable to preside, but
sent a letter in which he said, " I feel it a depriva-
tion to be absent from this epoch in the history of
Phonography — this erection of the first milestone
in the path which is to conduct to its universal
recognition/ '
NOTTINGHAM FESTIVAL 77
The second festival was held at Nottingham on
6th June, and here about 450 sat down to tea, and
the number afterwards increased to 600. The
Nottingham Mercury gave a report of the pro-
ceedings in the Exchange Hall, and as the account
furnishes a very good idea of what the festival
proceedings were like, we quote a short descriptive
passage. The writer observes : — " The manage-
ment of the festival was under the direction of a
committee, who are a body of spirited phono-
graphers, and who, for their strenuous exertions to
make the festival both pleasing and instructive,
deserve the greatest praise. Four tables, extend-
ing the whole length of the room, were tastefully
laid out with numerous massive glass vases, con-
taining the choicest flowers, and urns decorated
with garlands of no small beauty. At the upper
end of the room was placed a cross table, intended
for Mr. Isaac Pitman and his brothers, together
with phonographers from distant places. In fact,
the whole presented an exceedingly pleasing
appearance ; the usual splendid fascinations of the
hall adding their charms to the scene. Never was
a miscellaneous party more highly honoured with
Sparkling eyes and happy faces
than the present." The editor of the Journal
adds that the tea was very well served, and that
when the tables were cleared, a platform was
erected for the speakers. There was music by a
select choir, and a " high-toned piano " enlivened
78 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the proceedings. The orators on the occasion
included Mr. Barkas, Mr. Joseph Pitman, Mr. Benn
Pitman, Mr. Reed, and Isaac Pitman. The
speeches were of a most enthusiastic description,
and appear to have carried conviction to the minds
of the audience. As the " platform " did not
desire to monopolize the whole time of the meeting,
the audience was invited to participate in the
oratory, with the result that " a gentleman in the
body of the room then stood upon his seat and
addressed the assembly in a very humorous strain.
He stated that he had come fifteen miles to attend
the festival ; that he had lately commenced the
study of Phonography, and was more pleased with
it than with anything else he had ever met with.
He urged its study upon the attention of the
young, and forewarned them of the bitter regrets
they would feel hereafter, if they should now
neglect it." When the speeches were over, " many
of the youthful part of the company remained to
enjoy themselves with music and a festive dance/ '
The third festival was held at Birmingham on
the 18th July, and to the enjoyable accompani-
ments of tea and music, but without the dance as
a finale. Again speeches were made fully as en-
thusiastic as those which had been delivered at
the previous festivals. The tea-party numbered
170, but how many attended the subsequent meet-
ing is not recorded. Dr. Melson presided, and
the other orators included Mr. T. W. Hill, the
father of the eminent Post Office reformer, Mr.
SPEECH AT BIRMINGHAM 79
Joseph Pitman, Mr. Benn Pitman, and Isaac
Pitman. The speech of the last named contained
some interesting references to the origin of
Phonography.
" It originated/' Isaac Pitman observed, " with
myself so far as this, that I knew nothing of an
attempt to write by sound having been made by
any one else till three years after I had published
the first edition of Phonography, under the title
of ' Stenographic Sound-Hand/ I then met with
the work of Mr. George Edmonds, of this town,
aiming at the same object. I have since seen
several others ; and I may refer particularly to a
system of phonetic writing, constructed by a
gentleman now present, T. W. Hill, esq., honoured
and respected for his age and virtues, and
particularly so, as being the father of our great
benefactor, Rowland Hill.
" You will perhaps be led to inquire, How is it
that the authors that have published such systems
have all failed in their attempt to gain writers,
while Phonography, in the course of three years,
has attracted the attention of many thousand
persons, a Journal being printed in it, to which
there are already a thousand subscribers, and the
number daily increasing ? I can account for it
only in this way. The framers of other systems
did not possess a thorough acquaintance with all
the materials for swift writing ; they did not know
the comparative value of every stroke and dot ;
neither had they observed the analogy between
the four positions in which a line may be placed,
and the four seats of articulation, the lips, teeth,
palate, and throat ; they did not give single marks
for the double vowels ye, ya, yah, yau, yo, yoo ;
80 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
we, wa, wah, wau, wo, woo ; nor did they hit upon
the beautiful expedient of halving the consonants
to signify the addition of t or d. There are some
other minor points that might be noticed in
connection with this subject, such as the hooking
on of I and r to all the letters, etc."
There were many other gatherings of a similar
kind, but an enumeration of them is unnecessary.
All who took part in these proceedings were very
much in earnest, and their enthusiasm no doubt
occasionally betrayed them into some extrava-
gances of language. But what great movement
ever made satisfactory progress without the
momentum which enthusiasm engenders ?
The enthusiasm for Phonography was partici-
pated in by its London publisher. On reading in
Timothe Bright' s dedication of his " Characterie "
to Queen Elizabeth that Cicero contrived a short-
hand and Seneca improved it, Samuel Bagster at
this time sent the following verses to the Inventor
of Phonography : —
TO MR. PITMAN, OF BATH,
On his Invention of the Phonographic Art, and successful
Efforts in spreading a knowledge of it.
Were Cicero's sweet voice now heard,
This art would gather every word,
Nor leave one thought unwrit ;
Were Seneca's deep knowledge taught,
(A wisdom that a nation sought),
. . To gather it, 'tis fit.
JOHN BRIGHT'S TESTIMONY 81
Had Cicero's admirers known,
Or, Seneca the science shown
Of Phonographic art ; —
The world would now have held a prize,
And all this wisdom met our eyes,
And not, as now, A part.
Mr. John Bright was among those who were at
this period impressed with the value of Phono-
graphy, and he defrayed half the expenses of a
lecture delivered at the Rochdale Theatre on 15th
September, 1843, by Mr. Joseph Pitman. After
witnessing the practical demonstrations of the use
of Phonography given by the lecturer and Mr.
Reed, Mr. Bright, who presided, addressed the
audience in the following terms : —
I am greatly astonished at what I have seen. I think no
person can have been at this lecture or attended the one that
was given this day week, without being convinced that all that
has been promised by this science may easily be performed ;
and that it is so exceedingly simple as to be easily learned by
everyone of ordinary capacity ; and if it be learned by a very
large number of the people, the public benefits to be derived
from it are entirely incalculable. It may be said, also, that, to
make it very valuable, it is necessary that great multitudes
should learn it. Shorthands are of very little use if they are
only known to a select few ; for men are not writing always
to the same men ; and if ever it is to come into general use,
it must be, I think, by very large multitudes learning it ; and
I see no reason why, in this town, we should not have a class
of four or five hundred, or more. If five hundred knew it well,
and used it, many thousands would be forced to learn and
practise it from necessity. In this age, when we are talking
so much about education — when we ought to be doing so
much more than we are — this science appears to me likely to
tend to increase the love of reading and writing, and of
education generally ; and it seems to have sprung up at a
6— (;284)
82 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
time when, like many other improvements, it was most needed ;
and when, in all probability, it will be seized upon with the
greatest avidity. I may say for myself that I am extremely
obliged, personally, to the Inventor, and to the gentleman
who has come among us and given us these lectures ; and
hope to be much more so, when I become acquainted with the
science. We are extremely indebted to them for the very
handsome manner in which they have come forward, in
offering to teach, gratuitously, all such as find it difficult to
pay ; and, unfortunately, there are too many such in these
days. I trust there will be no want of those who can pay,
to remunerate them for this handsome offer which they have
made towards those who cannot pay. I shall be glad if this
town, which, on many occasions, has stood foremost among
the towns in Lancashire on some other questions, should not
be behind in one so important as this.
In later years Mr. Bright's eldest daughter
(afterwards Mrs. Clark) learned Phonography and
became her father's amanuensis, often writing
from his dictation.
The testimony of two well-known journalists
to the merits of Phonography demands record
here. Mr John Harland, a famous reporter, and
afterwards one of the proprietors of the Manchester
Guardian — who wrote a system of his own — was so
much impressed with its practical merits, that he
stated that Phonography " contains within itself
the power of becoming superior to all " systems
of shorthand extant. Mr. John King, proprietor
and editor of the Suffolk Chronicle, in addition
to hearty advocacy of the system, started a
phonographic magazine.
In this year (1843) the first practical steps were
taken to realize an idea which had originally
"PHONOTYPIC JOURNAL" 83
occurred to Isaac Pitman in the preceding spring.
Why, he asked himself, should not the phono-
graphic alphabet, so successful for writing, be
employed in printing the English language ? In
August, 1842, he mentioned in his Journal a
proposal for a printing alphabet to consist of all
the separate phonographic signs for the simple and
compound forms of consonants and vowels in his
system. As this would need a total of 115 distinct
characters, leaving " upper case," or capital
letters, out of sight altogether, it was obviously
impracticable for use in the printing office, while
the disjoined geometric characters when assembled
in words would have presented a far from har-
monious appearance. But out of this idea arose
a practicable plan for adding additional signs for
unrepresented simple consonants and vowels to
the Roman alphabet. In 1843 Isaac Pitman
issued his periodical in two sections, one the
Phonographic Journal, lithographed in Phono-
graphy by its Inventor, and the other, the
Phonotypic Journal, for the advocacy of Spel-
ling Reform. The proposition was enunciated
that " As Phonography becomes the general
medium of written communication, phonotypic
printing must follow. We shall, therefore," he
said, " advocate Phonography as a means for the
attainment of the great need — Phonotypic Print-
ing." From this time he regarded his system of
shorthand chiefly as an introduction to Spelling
Reform ; and to the advocacy of a phonetic
84 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
notation he devoted the strenuous efforts of a
lifetime and his own means without stint, while he
had also the moral and pecuniary support of a large
number of adherents in all parts of the country.
Of these the most distinguished was Mr. (after-
wards Dr.) Alexander John Ellis (1814-1890), then
residing at Dorking, who having had his attention
called to Phonography by a notice in the Athenceum
of the Birmingham festival, wrote in the following
terms to Isaac Pitman in a letter dated 6th August,
1843 :—
. Although I have for some years, and especially during the
last fifteen months, bestowed considerable attention on the
phonetical analysis of languages, it has so happened that
I never heard of Phonography till two days ago. I have been
diligently reading the " Manual " and the last number of the
Journal, and am delighted to find that our labours do not
clash. You have bestowed your principal attention on the
phonographic ; I on the phonofy^'c division of the subject.
It was my chief object to produce an alphabet which should
be easy to print ; and I think that I have succeeded at last in
forming an alphabet of the eighty-two primitive sounds of
the principal European and Oriental languages such as could
be set up by any country compositor at any country press.
On 12th September, Mr. Ellis again wrote to Isaac
Pitman making certain practical suggestions for
increasing the fund which had been opened to
provide for the cost of the first phonotypic
alphabet. After considerable discussion, the new
forms for the first phonotypic letters were agreed
upon, and an order was given to Messrs. V. and J.
Figgins, typefounders, who produced a fount of the
new letters before the close of 1843.
VIII
v
PHONOTYPY INTRODUCED — PHONOGRAPHY AND THE
SPELLING REFORM ATTACKED AND DEFENDED
1844-1845
In spite of his many activities at this period, Isaac
Pitman found time to edit and lithograph a second
monthly shorthand magazine, entitled the Phono-
graphic Correspondent, which began its course in
January, 1844, and at the close of the year took the
place of the phonographic section of the Journal.
Next to his industry, his versatility at this period
of his life is little short of astonishing. Hardly
any of the earlier or contemporary reformers of
English spelling — however excellent may have
been the schemes they formulated in their treatises
— had, or aspired to have, a practical acquaintance
with the art of printing, which is so greatly affected
by projects of this description. The Inventor of
Phonography, however, acquired in the office of
his printers, the proprietors of the Bath Journal,
practical skill in typesetting, and was thus enabled
to " set " with his own hands the first page of
phonotypic printing produced in this country.
This practical knowledge of the art of letterpress
printing was destined to prove of the utmost
service in succeeding years, both in Spelling
Reform experiments and in the production of his
85
86 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
shorthand instruction books. His typographical
attainments in connection with Phonotypy were
the necessary complement to his lithographic
transfer writing ability in association with Phono-
graphy. But for his skill in these two classes of
work, the history of Phonography and Phonotypy
might have been widely different.
Isaac Pitman's first Annual Address to the
Phonographic Corresponding Society and to sub-
scribers to the phonetic fount, appeared in the
early days of January, 1844, and filled two
pages of phonotypic printing, the first put in type
from the new phonotypic fount (in small capital
letters only), provided in part by subscriptions
from supporters of the movement, and in part paid
for by its originator. " Many attempts/ ' he
reminded his supporters, " have been made to
reform the errors of our written language, but
hitherto without success. . . . There was
no desire created in the public mind for a
consistent system of orthography ; now, by your
benevolent exertions in spreading abroad the
truths of phonetic writing, a desire has been
created for phonotypy, a desire that will increase
by that on which it feeds.,, The work of reforming
English orthography was, in a word, set about
under the inspiration of a noble desire to aid the
march of the human intellect.
The Reading and Writing Reform, now fully
inaugurated, was brought before the public at
a time when several great movements which
ADRE'S
TH AH MEMBURZ OV AU "FDNDGRAFIK KORESPONDIM SDSA'ETI,'
AND AU SUBSKRABURZ TH AH FDNETIK FHNT.
DirFrendz, — It iz wia ple'zurabil filimz ovnd o'rdinhri kand
aat a adre's uj in fdno'tipi, and aus ofhr uj ah rizu'lt ov au fhrst
EKSPE'rIMENT MED WIA AH FHNT HWIG UJR LIBURa'lITI HAZ ENEBSLD
MI TH PRDVa'd. Th UJ WIE FUJCUR EJIZ LUK, AZ BUM, UNDHR DiVA'n
Pro'vIDENS, AI INTRDDUJSHRZ OV A KORE'KT MDD OV RATIM AND
PRINTIH : AI INSTRUKTHRZ OV AH Sl'viLAZD WHRLD IN AU TRH
PRl'NSIPXLZ OV AAT ART HWIG'IZ AU MENSPRIM OV SIVILIZE'sUN:
AI IMa'nSIPETURZ OV AI INFANT MAND FROM AU GOLIH GENZ OV AU
PREZENT SISTEM OV 0R@o'gRAFI : AND AI e'lIVETURZ OV AH GRET MAS
OV MANKA'ND FROM AH LDESTDEP0S OV l'GNDRANS AND SUJPURSTl'sUN
TH AH PLE2URZ OV SAENS, AND AU DILA'TS OV VURGUJ.
Alh' MI TH KONGRa'cUJLET UJ, AZ A DH MOST SINSIRLI, ON AI
ESTa'bLISMENT, AND RAPID GRD© OV AH "FDNDGRAFIK KORESPONDIM
SDSA'ETI :" IT IZ, UNKWE'SGUNABLI, WUN OV AH MDST UJSFUL ASDEIE'-
SUNZ AAT Ka'rAKTURAZ AU PREZENT DE. NOTWIOSTANDIM AU SDSA'ETI
HAZ BIN IN EGZISTENS BUT TEN MUN@S, IT OLREDI BERZ SUG HA
PROMIS, AND MANIFESTS SD MUG E'NURJI, TALENT, AND a'pTITUJD FOR
AH WHRK HWIG IT HAZ UNDURTEKOLN, — AH Re'fORMESUN OV UR RlTIN
and Printed Lamgwij, — aat a he'zitet not th ekspre's ma furm
bili'f, aat it wil prhv efe'kgujal for ah salvesun ov au li'thruri
WURLD FROM AH BONDIJ UNDHR HWIG IT GRDNZ.
"Nu©IM HWOTEVHR IZ MDR TH BI DIZA'rD, OR MDR DILATFHL AAN
AH LAT OV TRH© : FOR IT IZ AH SDRS OV WIZDUM. HWEN AU MAND
IZ HARAST WIA OBSKUJ'rITI, DISTRAKTED BA DHTS, RENDURD TORPID
OR SADIND BA IG'nDRANS OR FO'lSITIZ, AND TRH© IMURJIZ AZ FROM
A DARK ABl's, IT SANZ FDRO INSTANTe'nIUSLI, LAK AH SUN DISPURSIH
MISTS AND VEPURZ, OR LAK AU DON DISPELIM AU SEDZ OF DARKNES."
PHRHa'pS AER IZ NU0IM MDR FROT WIA ERHR, AAN AU PREZENT MDD OV
ALFABE'TIK RATIM : AND AI IV3LZ AAT FLD AERFRO'm aR INUJ'mU-
RAB3L. Dr- PRISTLI OBZU'RVZ, "AI IMPURFEKEUNZ OF OL a'LFABETS,
(AU HIBRH BA ND MINZ EKSEPTED,) SIM TH ARGUJ AEM, NOT TH HAV
BIN AH PRODUKT OV DIVA'n SKIL, BUT AU RIZU LT OV SUG A KONKURENS
OV a'kSIDENT AND GRA'JUJAL IMPRHVMENT, AZ OL HUJMAN ARTS, AND
HWOT W} KOL INVENSUNZ, Q AER BUR© TH : FOR SU'RTINLI, Al AL' FA-
BETS IN UJS, BER ND MARKS OV AU REGUJLa'rITI OV AU WURKS OV NEGUR:
AH MDR WI KONSIDUR AU LATUR, AH MDR RIZ3N WI SI TH ADMA'R AER
FACSIMILE OF FIRST PAGE PRINTED IN PHONETIC SPELLING
(1844)
STEPHEN PEARL ANDREWS 87
profoundly interested the nation were occupying
attention. There was a world's Anti-Slavery
Convention in London in the autumn of 1843, and
among those who attended from America was the
eminent Abolitionist Stephen Pearl Andrews (1812-
1886), a member of the American Bar, a linguist
and philologist of no small attainments, and the
inventor of a universal language to which he gave
the name of " Alwato." He addressed a meeting
in London, and thus describes what followed, when
he descended from the platform : —
Somebody, I never knew who, pressed into my hands a
package of books and pamphlets, and whispered to me an
earnest request that I would examine them and use my
influence to get the subject of which they treated introduced
to the American public. On my return to my lodgings
I partially examined the package, and for the first time saw
the name of Isaac Pitman, and the words Phonography and
Phono typy. I was too busy to give the matter more attention
then, and carelessly threw the package into my trunk with
other documents. It was not until I was on my way home,
on the steamer, that I fairly opened the package and examined
it. Years before in New Orleans I had discovered the irregu-
larities of English orthography, and resolved some time
to devote myself to reforming it. There I found the same
idea, before wholly my own, already under way, and it
interested me profoundly. It was the Spelling Reform
Branch, and only in a very secondary way, at first, Phono-
graphy, which fixed my attention. I made the study of the
two, however, my main business on the voyage. Landing
in Boston, I found myself a good deal of a lion there. . . .
I became a lecturing agent for the Massachusetts liberty
party, but at the same time I resolved to become a propa-
gandist of the Pitmanian project in this country. I estab-
lished my headquarters at 21 School Street, Boston, second
88 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
floor, front room, with its bow window, from which locality
the new phonetic gospel was first promulgated to Americans.
I availed myself of my notoriety with the Press to crowd on
the public the most enthusiastic accounts of Mr. Pitman's
great discovery, and advertised for pupils.
Mr. Andrews soon had a large band of American
students and disciples. At the start he put himself
in communication with Isaac Pitman, who, he
observes, " Backed me very nobly, giving his books
freely or selling them at cost. He must have
invested many thousand dollars beyond actual
returns in planting this American branch of the
movement/' In 1844 Mr. Andrews produced at
Boston the first American instruction book
published on the Pitmanic system.
In the following year (1845), Phonography
became associated with the Free Trade movement.
There was an Anti-Corn Lav/ Bazaar at Covent
Garden Theatre, London, on 12th May, when the
claims of Phonography were brought prominently
before the notice of those who attended by a
supply of special literature at one of the stalls.
At the end of this year an Anti-Corn Law Demon-
stration was held at Bath. Isaac Pitman attended
a public meeting in the Guildhall and reported the
speech of Richard Cobden for the Bath Journal.
There were in the printing office of this news-
paper several compositors who had been instructed
in Phonography by its Inventor, and he determined
to try an experiment which was at that time
quite unique, and is described in the Bath
2?aw2ed ty Jfi.J& ert,c .
^A(0 FH14M
1NVENTER O V FONOGRAF
£n,gra.ved by WDenrus
(2^&J£&faz, (7?s~
'3/7tifa7z/cvrid' G^tr/z&ruMy
tfa**&>/<?46
COBDEN'S SPEECH 89
Journal of 8th December, 1845, in the following
terms : —
In connection with the report of the excellent addresses,
delivered at the great demonstration on Thursday of the
opinions of a very large majority of the citizens of Bath,
which will be found in our columns this week, we would call
the attention of our readers to a fact indicative of Reform in
other matters as well as in the Corn Laws. By the kindness
of Mr. Isaac Pitman of this city, whose systems of writing and
printing by sound have made such astonishing progress in all
parts of the kingdom, we are enabled to give a nearly verbatim
report of the excellent speech of R. Cobden, Esq., which our
compositors have set up from Mr. Pitman's phonographic
notes, there being no necessity for their transcription. With
all other systems of shorthand writing, not only was there
never known such a thing as a reporter passing over to the
compositor his notes of a speech an hour and a quarter in
delivery, but he is often unable to decipher them himself.
All that was necessary in this case, Mr. Pitman has assured
us, was to give the speech one reading the next morning, and
fill in a few vowels. We are convinced that we shall in a few
years, by this invaluable system, save all that immense amount
of toil which our present reporters have to undergo in
deciphering and transcribing their notes for the press. *
For various reasons the anticipations of the
writer of the above notice have not been realized.
The first and most important cause why they have
not is that it is hardly ever possible for the speech
of any speaker, even when reported fully, to be
presented to the public without receiving a certain
1 At this time a portrait in oils of Isaac Pitman at the age of 32
was painted by Mr. J. B. (afterwards Colonel) Keene, son of the
then Editor of the Bath Journal, and one of the earliest writers of
Phonography. A steel engraving was produced of this portrait, an
impression from which faces this page.
90 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
amount of " editing " from the reporter. But
with the present general knowledge of Phono-
graphy, much newspaper and book " copy " might
be written in shorthand, and a great saving of time
and labour effected.
Phonography at this period attracted the atten-
tion of two poets, James Montgomery and Bernard
Barton ; the former manifested his friendship for
the new art, the latter his hostility to it. Both
expressed their thoughts in poetry, and brief
extracts from their respective utterances will
indicate their views. James Montgomery, when
the system was introduced to his notice by Messrs.
Joseph Pitman and Reed, gave them a practical
dictation test, and satisfied himself as to the
efficiency of the new system. At one of their
meetings held in the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield, on
28th February, 1844, he recited from the chair a
poem which opened thus : —
Mind is invisible, yet when we write,
That world of mystery comes forth to sight ;
In vocal speech, the idle air breathes sense,
And empty sound becomes intelligence.
PHONETIC ART hath both these modes outdone,
By blending sounds and symbols into one.
Take one step more, and science may define
How spirits discourse without a word or sign ;
And teach mankind their feelings to impart,
Unseen, unheard, by pulses of the heart ;
While souls by sympathy the world embrace,
And hold communion, free of time and place ;
Or, unembodied, with survivors keep
Sweet intercourse, both when we wake or sleep,
BERNARD BARTONS EPISTLE 91
Glorious, and good, and wonderful such powers !
And who shall say they never can be ours ?
They're ours already in the parent root,
The stem, the branch, the flower, — and then, why not
the fruit ?
Bernard Barton penned a tirade against Phono-
graphy at the time Isaac Pitman visited Ipswich
to attend a phonographic soiree in 1845. In
"An Epistle to a Phonetic Friend ; or, A Few
Words on Phonography/' prefaced by the
quotation,
A thing of sound (not fury)
Signifying nothing,
appeared the following amusing lines : —
The New System saves much time. Indeed !
Must we then write, read, spell, by rail-road speed ?
'Tis bad enough, whene'er we go abroad,
That fire and smoke must urge us on our road,
And, for the music of the birds and spheres,
To have that horrid whistle din our ears ;
Must we not ride, alone, as if we flew,
But the same haste adopt in all we do ?
" More haste worse speed'1 — The proverb still holds true !
I wish that Pitman, Reed, and all their crew,
Or better taste, or better manners knew ;
To one accustomed to the olden lore
Their boasted System is a dreadful bore,
Though trumpeted, with empty acclamation,
A Reading, Writing, Printing Reformation !
Misses and masters in six lessons taught
What a life's labour to our fathers brought ;
Can write in shorthand, or like parrots speak,
Chaldee or Coptic, Sanscrit, Hebrew, Greek ;
But the sum total of this parrot lore,
Appeals to sight and sound, and little more.
92 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
This attack on Phonography provoked several
rejoinders, Isaac Pitman replied in prose, and
there were four poetic answers, one of which was
composed by Mr Reed. Mr John Dallenger
headed his reply with an apt parody of
Barton : —
Phonography her simple page
Impartially unfolding,
Prohibits neither saint nor sage
Its beauties from beholding.
In the course of his reply he thus retorted on the
Quaker poet : —
I wish Phonographers may soon subdue
All snarling critics, and the satirist crew ;
When vulgar prejudice shall vote no more
A perfect system as a dreadful bore ;
But Poets hail, with joyous acclamation,
This truly splendid Writing Reformation ;
And future ages shall, in truth, be brought
To estimate the system Pitman taught ;
Write in its praise, and of its beauties speak,
In sterling English — not in Poet's Greek ;
For Poets cite the tongues, to show their lore,
And know as much as parrots — little more.
Several other literary men and many journalists
took an active interest in the new method of
writing, and in some instances learned Phono-
graphy. Dr. Robert Chambers, whose first
acquaintance with the art is noticed in Chapter VI,
not only learned it but wrote an article on it in
Chambers's Journal of 5th October, 1844, which
proved of great service to the movement. Some
SIR ROWLAND HILL'S TESTIMONY 93
journalists were favourable and some distinctly
hostile, and there were about this time challenges
and contests which provoked a great deal of
interest and possibly amusement. The extrava-
gance of language of certain champions of
Phonography, who seemed to regard it as nothing
short of a new dispensation, led the Rev. Edward
Bickersteth (father of Dr. Bickersteth, sometime
Bishop of Exeter), in his book entitled " The
Promised Glory of the Church/' to class Phono-
graphy with other things which he denounced as
" stalking horses behind which the most Satanic
lies and the most absurd blasphemies are sent forth
against the Word of God ! " The rev. gentleman
received an assurance that nothing was further
from the thoughts of its Inventor, at any rate,
than to dishonour the Divine Word, and Mr.
Bickersteth readily withdrew Phonography from
the black list in the second edition of his book.
The Post Office Reformer, Mr. (afterwards Sir)
Rowland Hill, whose father had two years before
shown his interest in the movement (see Chap.
VII) presided at a phonographic soiree held in the
Town Hall, Brighton, on 28th February, 1845, in
connection with the visit of Messrs. Joseph Pitman
and Reed. In lamenting the fact of our cumbrous
system of orthography, Rowland Hill said : —
'I therefore attach very great importance to
attempts such as these made by the Messrs.
Pitman to improve and reform our writing and
printing."
94 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
In association with phonographic correspon-
dence, manuscript magazines written in shorthand
were started in 1840, when the first of the kind,
called the " Family Messenger," circulated among
the nine brothers and sisters of the Pitman family
then resident in England. This production was
of very small size, in order that it might go through
the post in a half ounce letter for a penny postage.
In 1844 the number of these magazines in circula-
tion among phonographers was fairly large, and
they then received the distinctive name of
Evercirculators.
By the end of 1845 the Phonographic
Corresponding Society was receiving large acces-
sions of members, and Isaac Pitman deemed it
advisable that those who desired membership
in future should, as a preliminary to enrolment,
submit a specimen of their Phonography.
IX
A DEPARTURE IN PRINTING AND PUBLISHING —
MR. A. J. ELLIS AND THE " 1847 ALPHABET "
1845-1848
At the Ipswich soiree held on 14th May, 1845,
when Mr. Robert Ransome and Mr. W. D. Sims
were among the speakers who bore eloquent testi-
mony to the value of Phonography, Isaac Pitman
gave a long address on the origin and development
of his system. Some of the more important state-
ments and facts contained in that speech have
been reproduced in the earlier chapters of the
present narrative, but his remarks on that occasion
contained some interesting facts bearing on the
extent of the movement in 1845, which will be
appropriately noticed here. Isaac Pitman in-
formed his Ipswich audience that from the Institu-
tion at Bath he was sending out seven hundred-
weight of books per month, and was receiving ten
thousand phonographic letters a year. Ten lec-
turers were constantly employed in teaching the
system, and over a thousand members of the
Phonographic Corresponding Society were engaged
in its private dissemination. Phonography was now
in the Seventh Edition \ many improvements had
been made in its presentation as new editions were
called for, and it was abundantly evident, if we
may use a colloquial expression, that it had come to
95
96 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
stay. Its originator saw in all these evidences of
appreciation of his work proof that it had become
a " national movement/ ' and he was justified in
that assumption. With the practical sagacity
which was a striking feature of his character, he
perceived that in order to provide most successfully
for what would, in all probability, be an ever-
growing demand for the books and periodicals
connected with the phonographic art, and for the
purpose of carrying on his experiments in phono-
typy, it was essential that he should have a
printing establishment under his own direction.
Accordingly, in December, 1845, the Inventor
of Phonography set up his first printing press at
his residence, and henceforward his many publica-
tions in ordinary letterpress with woodcut short-
hand illustrations, and in phonotypy, bore the im-
print 5 Nelson Place. Writing in 1852 Isaac Pitman
observed that those who had seen some of the
millions of books and papers printed at that
address " will learn with astonishment that (from
1845) the whole business of the Writing and Print-
ing Reform, so far as the production of English
books was concerned, was, until March, 1848,
carried on in two rooms — a long one on the ground
floor, measuring 34 ft. by 12 ft. for the compositors
and bookbinders, and a small room underground
(adjoining the kitchen, and commonly termed the
housekeeper's room) just large enough to take a
printing press. . . . During the winter of
1849-50, eighteen persons were engaged in these
THE LONDON DEPOT 97
two rooms, sixteen in the compositors* and binders'
room, and two in the press room. When it is
considered that all the stock of books and paper,
as well as the men and tools had to be crowded
into this place, it may be said that the Reform was
projected, and successfully carried on for seven
years — reckoning from January, 1844, when
phonetic printing first appeared in the Journal —
in a bee-hive/'
The narrative quoted above is the earliest
account we have from the pen of Isaac Pitman
concerning his Institute and staff. From a later
statement of his we learn that a third room in his
home was afterwards devoted to the business of
the Reform.
Changes in regard to the London publishing
arrangements occurred almost simultaneously
with the alterations in production at Bath.
Messrs. Bagster & Sons found that the handling
of the phonographic publications interfered with
their Bible publishing at No. 15 Paternoster Row.
They accordingly in 1845 opened a shop at No. 1
Queen's Head Passage, adjoining their establish-
ment in the Row, and here the phonographic books
and periodicals were published. The name of
Bagster was for the future omitted from the
phonographic books, and the new place of publica-
tion was designated the " Phonographic and
Phonotypic Depot." In 1846 Mr. Benn Pitman
took charge of the " Depot," assisted by his
two younger brothers. In the following year
7— (2284)
98 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Mr. Frederick Pitman, then but nineteen years
old, superintended the business. About the time
that he came of age (October, 1849), Mr. Frederick
Pitman took No. 20 Paternoster Row, set up in
business on his own account as a publisher, and
from this time to his death was the publisher of
his brother Isaac's phonographic books and
periodicals. " Some risk/' Mr. Reed says, " was
expected to attend the experiment apart from the
Messrs. Bagster, with whose house Phonography
had been identified for nine years, but the result
amply justified the change. Here, as at Queen's
Head Passage, Mr. Fred. Pitman was assisted by
his father, Mr. Samuel Pitman, who, in his old age,
had the satisfaction of witnessing the success of
his sons, and giving them the benefit of his co-
operation. Those who visited the depot in those
days will not forget the shrewd and sagacious
sayings and doings of Pitman pere, who was
for some years a well-known character in the
Row."
In 1845 a Phonetic Council, which had been
organized some little time previously, was engaged
in deliberations on various points in relation to the
phonotypic alphabet. Isaac Pitman was the
President of this body, and of the twelve members
Mr. Ellis was incomparably the most distinguished
as a scholar, a phonetician, and an author. His
contributions to the Journal during this period
were among the ablest and most convincing
arguments on behalf of phonetic spelling that
THE PHONOTYPIC ALPHABET 99
have ever appeared. In addition to works such
as " The Alphabet of Nature," and " A Plea for
Phonotypy and Phonography, or Speech- writing/ '
Mr. Ellis was the author of adaptations of Phono-
graphy to no less than fourteen languages, living
and dead. " His scholarship," as Mr. Reed
observes, " was a great acquisition to the cause."
With the aid of subscriptions, a complete long
primer phonotypic fount of type had been pro-
duced (followed later on by larger and smaller
sizes), and one of the first uses to which Isaac
Pitman put the new type was to begin the printing
of a " Phonotypic Bible," but when the publication
had proceeded serially as far as Exodus XX, the
printing was stopped, owing to changes which
had been introduced in the vowel notation of
phonotypy, and all that had been produced
became so much waste paper. Innumerable
phonotypic experiments, both before and after
this time, were submitted to the Phonetic Council,
but in June, 1846, the " Absolute Completion of
the Phonotypic Alphabet " was announced in
these terms : —
" Messrs. Pitman and Ellis distinctly pledge
themselves not to make any further alterations in
the forms or uses of the letters of the practical
Phonotypic Alphabet of the English language given
in this number of the Journal, or in the theory
upon which it is founded. Whatever books they
publish in Phonotypy will be printed in accordance
with this alphabet and no other."
100 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
This decision was arrived at after experiments
extending over three years. A few slight improve-
ments in the Pitman-Ellis alphabet were intro-
duced within the next eighteen months by Isaac
Pitman and the Phonetic Council. During this
period Mr. Ellis was residing in Germany, but by
the end of 1847 he had returned to England, and
came to reside at No. 4 Lansdown Crescent, Bath,
with the design of taking a leading part in a
movement for bringing the new spelling before the
nation in a fashion not hitherto attempted.
The initial step in this change was announced in
a notice which appeared in the Phonotypic Journal
at the end of 1847. Isaac Pitman informed the
readers of his retirement from the control of the
Journal he had created, and the contemplated
appearance in 1848 of a new series, with the title
of the Phonetic Journal, under the editorship of
Mr. Ellis. The announcement closed with the
intimation that " It gives Mr. Pitman much
pleasure to think that all these experiments have
been commenced and brought to a satisfactory
termination while the Journal was under his
management. " The phonotypy thus referred to
became known in subsequent years as " the
1847 alphabet."
In pursuance of this project Mr. Ellis in Novem-
ber, 1847, purchased the printing plant used in
the production of the Journal, and took over the
composing staff at Nelson Place. In March, 1848,
he removed the printing establishment to larger
THE "PHONETIC JOURNAL" 101
premises at Albion Place, in the Upper Bristol
Road, Bath. Mr. Reed states that " One of the
conditions of the purchase was that Isaac Pitman
was to have the joint use of the office and plant,
paying 5 per cent on the cost of production for
wear and tear." He was also to edit the " Intelli-
gence " department of the new series of the
Journal.
In the first number of the Phonetic Journal for
1848, Mr. Ellis described at length the origin of
the phonetic alphabet, and his narrative includes
a passage of considerable historical and
biographical interest, as follows : —
The alphabet was reduced to a satisfactory working state
in January, 1847. So many persons have taken part in bring-
ing the alphabet to its present state of perfection that it is
impossible to name any one as the sole inventor. To Mr. Isaac
Pitman, of Bath, unquestionably belongs the merit of the idea,
and of the practical form in which a Phonetic system of
spelling was so cleverly clothed even in the earliest editions of
his system of Phonography, the success of which alone could
have paved the way for the introduction of Phonetic Printing.
The first form of the Phonetic Printing Alphabet, and the
determination to use a variation of the Roman alphabet, are
also entirely his ; but most of the letters were invented, and
the theory of their use laid down in conjunction with the
Editor of this Journal, who had occupied himself with phonetic
investigations and attempts at forming a universal alphabet
for several years before he had heard of Mr. Pitman's labours
on the same ground, and who has taken an active part in all
the experiments and investigations made since August, 1843,
when accident first made him acquainted with Phonography.
He eventually became the chief proposer of further experi-
ments, and starter of theories on which to found them, while
Mr. Pitman with unparalleled industry, and perseverance,
102 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
and practical tact, worked them out, and was mainly instru-
mental in bringing their merits to the test of experience.
The improvements in the theory on which the alphabet was
first formed, and its extension to embrace Foreign Sounds,
both in Phonetic Printing, and Phonetic Short Hand, are also
entirely the work of Mr. Ellis. During the last two years of
experiments, much assistance in reducing the printing alphabet
to a practical working form has been derived from the labours
of the Members who compose the Societies, called the General
Phonetic and Executive Council, and the Phonographic
Corresponding Society, so that the English Phonetic Alphabet,
both in its short hand and its printing forms, must, when
completed — and we hope that we now lay it before our readers
in a complete form — like most great practical inventions, be
rather regarded as the growth of time, than the sole work of
one or two individuals. And although it may, with great
justice, be called the joint invention of Isaac Pitman and
Alexander John Ellis, yet, as great inventions take their name
from those who first started and gave a practical form to the
idea, even though the completion of their inventions may
have been wholly or partially the work of others, future
generations must look up to Isaac Pitman the inventor of Phonetic
Short Hand, as the Father of English Phonetic Spelling.
The italics are Mr. Ellis's. He conducted the
Journal for just a year, and then discontinued it
under circumstances which will be described in
our next chapter.
Apart from phonotypy, Isaac Pitman was
engaged in several not inconsiderable enterprises
during this period. His " History of Shorthand,"
the most popular and comprehensive survey
of stenographic invention in ancient and modern
times, first appeared serially in the Journal
in 1847. Since that date it has been published
several times in book form, with considerable
GEORGE DAWSON 103
additions. At the end of 1846 he completed, as a
supplement to the " Ipswich Phono-Press " . (a
shorthand magazine produced by lithography),
the first " Phonographic Dictionary of the English
Language, containing the most usual words, to the
number of twelve thousand/ ' This work was
also greatly expanded and improved in later years.
There were two notable utterances on phonetic
shorthand writing and printing at this time. The
first was an able and appreciative review of Isaac
Pitman's labours which appeared in the Athenceum
on 19th December, 1846. The second was a
speech by Mr. George Dawson, the minister of the
Church of the Saviour at Birmingham, and widely
known as a popular lecturer, who presided at a
phonographic gathering at Birmingham on 24th
August, 1847. He mentioned incidentally that
his chief secretary (he was referring to Mrs.
Dawson) wrote a different system of shorthand to
that which he himself employed. " We have
therefore agreed/' he added, " to throw away the
two old systems and take to the new one ! " With
prophetic instinct he remarked that " Phono-
graphy being first undeniably good in itself, and
then its advantages being based on the highest
principle man knows — duty — it will succeed."
X
" THE PHONETIC NEWS M AND WHAT FOLLOWED
1849-1850
The appearance of the first number of the Phonetic
News on the 6th January, 1849, was the most
notable event in the history of the Spelling Reform
movement of the last century. For the first five
months of the year, and for the greater part of that
time every Saturday morning, there was issued
under the title mentioned above a twelve-page
newspaper very similar in size and style to the
weekly newspapers of that period, but produced
from phonetic printing type. Mr. Ellis conducted
the paper with conspicuous ability. He did not
make it the organ of either political party, but the
Parliamentary and other great reforms which were
at that time before the country were either advo-
cated or favourably noticed. All kinds of news,
home and foreign, was given in reformed spelling.
Every number had in a prominent place a state-
ment in the ordinary orthography treating of the
necessity and advantages of a reformed spelling,
with an explanation of the 1847 phonetic alphabet,
in which the News was printed.
The Phonetic News brought the Spelling Reform
very much under the notice of the country. Mr.
Reed has borne testimony that it " drew public
attention to the anomalies of English spelling, and
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the necessity of a change, in quarters to which
previous publications had rarely, if ever, obtained
access/ ' The Westminster Review , which was then
a power in the land as an organ of liberal thought,
devoted thirty pages of its April issue to " The
English Spelling Reform/ ' its remarks being
suggested by Mr. Ellis's writings, and more particu-
larly by the appearance of the Phonetic News.
The article was of a very appreciative and encour-
aging character, but the new organ of Spelling
Reform had at an earlier date been somewhat
caustically criticized in Punch, which friends of the
reform were disposed to think a little remarkable
for the following reason. In conversation with
Hepworth Dixon, one of the best known contribu-
tors to Punch, namely Douglas Jerrold, had
approvingly remarked, " It is one of my reforms."
Some other member of the Punch staff (the paper
was then edited by Mark Lemon) was probably
responsible for the article which characterized
reformed spelling as " decidedly the most insane
thing out of Bedlam." Mr. Ellis took criticism
of this kind with perfect good humour, and con-
troverted whatever arguments were offered against
reformed spelling in the columns of his own News,
and in the much derided reformed characters.
Although the Phonetic News appealed to a wide
constituency, it is doubtful whether it was calcu-
lated to help the movement for reformed spelling
so effectively as the smaller periodicals printed
both in phonotypy and phonetic shorthand, which
106 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Isaac Pitman had been issuing for some years in
various cheap forms, and in considerable variety.
The Phonetic News was published at the weekly
price of 4£d. stamped, each number bearing at
the bottom right-hand corner of its front page the
penny red stamp which was a familiar feature on
our newspapers down to the introduction of
half-penny postage. The price was a prohibitive
one for a propagandist journal, but it would
appear from various statements in its pages
that there must have been a large gratuitous
distribution.
A month after the Phonetic News had begun to
appear, Isaac Pitman discovered that the dis-
continuance of the Phonetic Journal by Mr. Ellis
at the end of 1848, left the Society practically
without an organ. Though it was true that a
certain amount of space was devoted to news of a
phonographic and phonetic character in the
Phonetic News, yet as Mr. Ellis published his
newspaper not as the organ of the workers in the
movement but rather as a journal appealing to
the general public, it was inevitable that such
matter could only be inserted to a limited extent.
Isaac Pitman therefore again set up a printing
press at Nelson Place. In March, 1849, he
resumed the publication of the Phonotypic Journal,
which henceforth appeared fortnightly instead of
monthly, as was previously the case. In his
resuscitated Journal published at the beginning
of May, he announced the failure of Mr. Ellis's
THE " PHONETIC NEWS" 107
effort to popularize phonotypy in the following
terms : —
" The altogether unexpected and regretful *
intelligence has just been communicated to us by
Mr. Ellis that the Phonetic News does not pay its
expenses, and that it will therefore give place to a
smaller publication/ • " Deeply," he went on,
"as we shall regret the discontinuance of the
phonetic broad sheet, yet we cannot but acknow-
ledge it is better that the News should be discon-
tinued, than that the proprietor should sustain a
heavy loss by it. Only as a business can the
Reform now succeed ; and in order to this, the
continued exertions of the members of the rapidly
increasing Phonetic Society are indispensable."
In this year the Phonographic Corresponding
Society, which had taken such a considerable share
in the phonotypic branch of the movement, was
re-named the Phonetic Society. Under this new
name, as the years passed, it gained in importance
and influence. In the announcement from which
we have quoted, Isaac Pitman proceeded to refer
to the services which his co-worker had rendered
to the Reform. He was not a man who indulged
in idle compliment, and therefore when he speaks
of the " rare generosity " of Mr. Ellis in giving to
the Spelling Reform not alone his scholarly
advocacy, invaluable as that was, but also no
inconsiderable portion of his means, we may feel
assured that he is speaking with his accustomed
sincerity. The amount which Mr. Ellis lost over
108 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
his " too sanguine " enterprise — to quote Mr.
Reed's phrase — was between six and seven
thousand pounds.
It is a pleasure to be able to record, however,
that there is no note of despondency or disappoint-
ment in Mr. Ellis's valedictory address to the
readers of the Phonetic News, although his health
had unfortunately suffered by his considerable
literary labours in connection with its production.
He acknowledges the generous way in which those
interested in reformed spelling had subscribed
towards the fund for type matrices, and had in
various ways laboured for the common cause.
" It would be very wrong and very ungrateful in
us," he says, " to overlook those who have so
nobly, disinterestedly, and indefatigably worked
for us in the cause of Spelling Reform." In the
first rank of these he places Isaac Pitman, and he
mentions with special appreciation the services of
the first lecturer on phonetic spelling purely, Isaac
Pitman's kinsman Mr. George Withers, and in a
similar capacity his brother Mr. Benn Pitman.
Finally he announces the publication of a successor
to the Phonetic News of a less ambitious character,
to be entitled the Spelling Reformer. This
periodical appeared on the 15th June ; in all eight
numbers were published, the last being dated
Friday, 18th January, 1850. In this issue Mr.
Ellis regrets that in obedience to the strict in-
junction of his physician he is obliged to intermit
the publication. He hopes that a few months'
THE "1847 ALPHABET " 109
perfect repose will enable him to resume his
attention to the cause of the Spelling Reform ; he
will give due notice of the resumption of the
Spelling Reformer in Isaac Pitman's Journal.
But that notice never appeared. At the end of
1850, owing to his continued ill-health, the
Reformer was " finally abandoned/ '
Mr. Ellis removed to Clifton directly after the
Phonetic News was discontinued, and his phonetic
type (the " 1847 alphabet ") was sent to a
London printing establishment. The following
announcement was at this time made by Isaac
Pitman : —
" The style of phonetic spelling employed till
towards the close of 1848, was adopted with the
mutual consent of the two parties who had the
principal share of the labour of maturing the
alphabet. Many of the schemes and peculiar
spellings were, however, professedly tried as mere
experiments. From that time Mr. Ellis has
assumed the entire control of this matter, and in
consideration of the large sums of money he has
invested in the Reform, we intend in all the
phonetic printing we send out, till the close of next
year (1850) to follow the system laid down in his
Phonetic Spelling Rules/ '
In accordance with the intimation quoted
above, a very different phonetic printing alphabet
was in due course introduced in the books published
by Isaac Pitman, of which he was practically the
sole inventor. But with recovered health Mr.
110 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Ellis issued new publications in the alphabet of his
choice, until his phonetic type was destroyed in a
fire at the office of his London printers. He
viewed with strong disfavour the later develop-
ments of phonotypy at Bath, and when Isaac
Pitman approached him in 1853 with an appeal for
phonotypic unity by his acceptance of his late
colleague's developments, he answered briefly, " I
have no inclination to propose any alteration in
the 1847 alphabet.' ' To later overtures he made
practically the same answer.
Early in the last year (1850) of Isaac Pitman's
labours at Nelson Place, he printed and published
the largest volume which had yet appeared in
reformed spelling. This was " The Holy Bible,
containing the Old and New Testaments, according
to the Authorized Version. Printed Phonetically,
in Paragraphs and Parallelisms." The production
was in the form of a handsome demy 8vo volume
of nearly 750 pages, with two columns of matter
on each page in minion type. A vast amount of
work was entailed in the revision of the translitera-
tion and in the correction of the pages for the press,
but, as the Preface indicates, this was with its
producer a labour of love. The actual cost of
printing and binding was no more than £200. The
edition consisted of one thousand copies.
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XI
THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AND
EXETER HALL — THE SECOND AND THIRD INSTITUTES
1851-1856
When Mr. Ellis gave up his printing office and left
Bath, the premises known as No. 1 Albion Place
remained unoccupied for something like eighteen
months, and this fact led to the dissemination of
a statement that " the phonetic printing institu-
tion at Bath had ceased to exist," owing to the
loss sustained by Messrs. Ellis and Pitman over
the Phonetic News " speculation.' ' Isaac Pitman
at once issued a statement giving the actual facts,
and showing that his own printing and binding
establishment at Nelson Place had been engaged
uninterruptedly in the production of the literature
of the movement. " Our own printing office/ '
he wrote, " is in full work, and employs eighteen
persons, eleven in the printing department and
seven in the binding department. In addition to
this force, three lithographic presses are kept
constantly employed upon the shorthand
periodicals and other works at the large litho-
graphic establishment of Mr. Hollway in this city."
Some months after this, in January, 1851, he
rented the vacant premises at Albion Place, which
henceforward became the second Phonetic
Institute.
in
112 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
The first of May, 1851, is memorable as the day
which witnessed the opening of the Great Exhibi-
tion in Hyde Park. There have been many
exhibitions since that day, but none have so
greatly aroused public interest as this pioneer
enterprise. In his Journal published on the date
given above, Isaac Pitman answered the question,
" Will the arts of Phonography and Phonotypy be
found in the Exhibition ? " with an emphatic
affirmative. Knowing that space was valuable,
he had preferred a modest request for one square
foot of counter space for a glass case, and for
twelve square feet of hanging space for a chart.
What was asked for was readily granted ; indeed,
on a second application, twenty square feet of
hanging space was obtained. The exhibit took
the form of " a neat piece of cabinet work,"
consisting of a mahogany stand, with " four
tastefully turned and twisted pillars supporting
a sloping frame," in which, under a plate glass
cover were an open Phonetic Bible and an open
Shorthand New Testament. Other phonetic
books and a copy of the " Manual of Phono-
graphy," were attached to the stand, and under-
neath was a supply of free literature. The exhibit
cost £10, and an appeal was made to all interested
in the Spelling and Writing Reform to contribute
to a fund to provide a supply of free literature at
the stand while the Exhibition was open, at a
cost of £50. The exhibit was awarded a bronze
medal.
EXETER HALL 113
During the summer of 1851 people thronged to
London from all parts of the country, and the time
was therefore an especially appropriate one for
holding in the metropolis a meeting of those
interested in the Reform. Accordingly on the
6th August what was known as the London
Phonetic Soiree was held in the Minor Hall of
Exeter Hall. The chair was taken by Mr. James
Simpson, of Accrington (President of the Vegeta-
rian Society), and the other speakers included
Messrs. Isaac Pitman, A. J. Ellis, Benn Pitman,
and T. A. Reed. In writing about the meeting
Isaac Pitman observed: "In that room met,
for the first time, many friends who, by means
of correspondence in phonetic shorthand, had
known each other intimately for many years,
in some cases for eight or ten years ! It was
indeed a meeting for the overflowing of affection,
rather than for exhibiting the bright sparklings of
intellect/ ' But for all that the speeches were
marked by a vigorous advocacy of the objects of
the Reform. It is significant that the London
daily papers devoted a liberal amount of space to
reports of the meeting, while the Morning
Chronicle gave a leader on it, the tone of which
may be gathered from the not very polite designa-
tion of the speeches as " ex parte spouting/' Mr.
Reed wrote a letter in reply, which demolished a
good many of the arguments of the leader writer.
It was to Mr. Reed's arrangements that the success
of the soiree was largely due. He has left it on
8— (2384)
114 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
record that some difficulty was experienced in
obtaining one of the rooms of Exeter Hall for the
purpose of the meeting. " The movement was
looked upon with suspicion by some of the authori-
ties/ ' and he says that he " well remembers the
trouble he had in persuading them that the
proposed reform was not of the revolutionary
character attributed to it, but simply a means of
rendering reading and writing a pleasure rather
than a toil."
There had been established at Preston in the
previous year, as the outcome of a visit of Messrs.
Benn and Henry Pitman, a Phonetic Sunday and
Week Evening School for teaching the unlettered
to read by means of phonotypic instruction books,
and its anniversary was commemorated on 22nd
September, 1851, by a tea party. It was an-
nounced that " many who were totally unable to
read and write on entering the school are now well
versed in these indispensable arts." Isaac Pitman
attended and gave an eloquent and practical
address, and, as at the Exeter Hall meeting, a
resolution was passed acknowledging the labours
of Mr. Ellis and himself in promoting the Spelling
Reform.
Early in 1852, Mr. John Cassell, the founder of
the well-known publishing house, made an an-
nouncement in his " Popular Educator/' which was
then making its first appearance in weekly
numbers, that the subject of Phonography would
be taken up in it in due course. Isaac Pitman's
THE "POPULAR EDUCATOR " 115
attention was called to this by Mr. John H.
Younghusband, of the Liverpool Institute (an able
advocate of Phonography by voice and pen) who
favoured the idea, and some correspondence
followed with Mr. Cassell. The last-named pro-
posed that the Inventor of Phonography should
prepare a course of lessons for the new serial, " to
perfect the learner in the phonographic art without
a master," and that such course " for such sum
as may be agreed upon " should be the copyright
of the proprietor of the ' ' Popular Educator .' ' This
proposal Isaac Pitman declined to accept, but not
exactly on the ground of the average successful
author. If, he pointed out, he did not need the
profits arising from the copyright of Phonography
to enable him to bear the expenses attending the
introduction of phonetic printing, he would will-
ingly comply with the request, but without the
profits arising from the sale of his shorthand books
he had no means of meeting the heavy expenses of
continuing phonetic printing. Mr. Cassell there-
fore went elsewhere for a series of shorthand
lessons, and secured these from Mr. Alexander
Melville Bell, who had just published the system
associated with his name under the title of " Steno-
Phonography." It cannot be said that this feature
of the "Popular Educator' ' was a success. The
firm of Messrs. Cassell, Petter & Galpin ultimately
decided to discontinue it, and applied to Isaac
Pitman for permission to give lessons in Phono-
graphy in the " Educator/' agreeing to the terms
116 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
which had been offered to Mr. John Cassell seven-
teen years before. The permission was readily
given, and since that time lessons in Pitman's
Shorthand have been a leading feature in the
" Educator " and have given many thousands of
young people their first introduction to the
phonographic art.
During the years 1852 and 1853 the recon-
struction of the phonetic printing alphabet was the
subject of innumerable experiments and of vigorous
correspondence on the part of advocates of rival
proposals. The British Phonetic Council, a body
of fifty phoneticians (of which Mr. Ellis was
President ; Isaac Pitman, Editor ; and Mr. C.
Gahagan, jun., Secretary), was very actively
engaged at this period in giving decisions on
various points. The expenditure with the type-
founder over these experiments was very consider-
able— a few large donations, many subscriptions,
and a large proportion of the revenue derived from
the profits on the shorthand books, appear to have
all gone in the promotion of the branch of the
Reform which did not " pay expenses/ '
Most of the lecturers and travelling teachers
whose names have figured in the earlier pages of
this biography had now retired from the field.
Their labours had been highly successful from the
time when Mr. Joseph Pitman took up the work
relinquished by the Inventor of Phonography in
1842, down to the retirement of Mr. Benn Pitman
from the lecturing field late in 1852, in order to
THE TRAVELLING LECTURERS 117
emigrate to the United States. " At that time,"
Mr. Benn Pitman says, " I was the only remaining
lecturer and teacher who had for nearly ten years
made the dissemination of Phonography and
Phonetics successful enough to yield a frugal
living.,, Before this time most of the other
lecturers whose names have been mentioned had
found a more permanent source of livelihood than
the precarious income which travelling lecturing
afforded. The causes that at the outset at-
tracted crowded gatherings had to a great extent
ceased to operate. Speaking of the early lecturing
work Mr. Reed has observed, " We had the great
advantage of having something of the nature of a
novelty to bring before our hearers. We had not
only a new system of shorthand to expound, we
had a new system of spelling to advocate." But
with local teachers of shorthand and champions
of the Spelling Reform springing up in all
directions, it became less and less possible to break
new ground, and accordingly the early lecturers
sought other callings in life. Mr. Joseph Pitman
entered a position of trust in the firm of Messrs.
Jonas Brook & Bros., at Meltham, which he held
for thirty years. Mr. Reed, after filling two or
three provincial appointments as a newspaper
reporter, came to London and founded the well-
known firm of professional shorthand writers now
entitled Messrs. T. A. Reed & Co. Mr. Henry
Pitman combined newspaper reporting with pro-
fessional shorthand writing and a considerable
118 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
amount of teaching work, eventually settling in
Manchester. Here Mr. William Hunt, who had
married Isaac's sister Jane, for some years also
engaged in teaching. Mr. Frederick Pitman, as
we have seen, became the London publisher of his
brother's books, and in addition developed a large
music publishing business. Mr. Withers became
for a period private secretary to Sir James
Matheson (who at one time represented Ashburton
in Parliament), but later on he settled in Liverpool
as a shorthand teacher. Other lecturers and
teachers readily found openings on the newspaper
press as reporters, when the repeal of the Stamp
and Advertisement Duties made a cheap press
possible, and there was a considerable demand for
reports of public proceedings such as could only be
furnished by reporters who were expert shorthand
writers. At this time also phonographic reporters
were beginning to make their way into what had
hitherto been a close preserve of the writers of the
older systems — namely the Galleries and Com-
mittee Rooms of the Houses of Parliament. We
find Isaac Pitman writing that he is " acquainted
with the names of three gentlemen engaged on the
Morning Post, with one on the Morning Chronicle,
and one on the Morning Advertiser, who use
Phonography in the House of Commons ; and
with one employed on The Times, who reports
Committees of the House, etc."
The travelling lecturers had done their work well
and thoroughly ; there was hardly an important
PHONOGRAPHIC WORKS 119
town in the country in which their voices had
not been heard. They were succeeded by resident
teachers and voluntary workers, in most cases
their own pupils, under whom Phonography made
great and continuous progress, and it became a
considerable undertaking to provide literature in
the shape of instruction books, exercise books,
reading books, and periodicals. But Isaac Pitman
went about this work with steady and unwearied
regularity. On 3rd January, 1852, the Phonetic
Journal was enlarged in size and was issued as a
weekly periodical. At this period an enlarged
edition of the " Phonographic Dictionary/ ' en-
titled " A Phonetic and Pronouncing Vocabulary
of the English Language " was prepared with the
shorthand characters lithographed on pages facing
the letterpress. In this work Mr. Reed assisted,
and " many phonographic outlines and sets of
outlines were tried in ordinary writing for the
purpose of selecting the best." Isaac Pitman was
fond of giving statistics, and in association with
his lithographic work he mentions that at this
time during four years he lithographed 4,800 pages
of Phonography. His work as a shorthand tran-
script writer has never been excelled. But when
he had been engaged in this way for ten years he
published in 1852 this singularly modest estimate
of his own abilities. " He never hoped," he said,
' to be able to produce anything in this way that
could be considered excellent, because his ' trans-
fers ' were, from the stern necessity of his business.
120 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
produced in a short time, and often amid inter-
ruptions. Moreover, he had not been trained to
the work — had never written anything merely for
practice, but lithographed the first number of the
Phonetic Journal, in 1842, after an hour's trial
with the lithographic pen, and never afterwards
wrote anything but for the purpose of its being
printed.,,
From year to year the Phonetic Society showed
considerable growths in membership, its objects
being at this time defined as " For the general
introduction of Phonetic Spelling, both in Writing
and Printing, in order to render the arts of Reading
and Writing accessible to the whole Population."
The only official of the Society since its establish-
ment had been its Secretary, Isaac Pitman, who
continued, in fact, its working head throughout.
But in 1854 he invited Mr. George Dawson to
become its President, and that gentleman took
office. The membership was at this time about
4,500, and a re-classification of members being
projected it occurred to Isaac Pitman to offer the
Presidency of the Society to Mr. Ellis " notwith-
standing the differences of opinion existing
between them in reference to the 1847 alphabet."
The following correspondence took place, which
speaks for itself : —
Isaac Pitman to Mr. Ellis.
I believe I speak the sentiments of every phono-
grapher when I say that your acceptance of the
office of President of the Phonetic Society would
THE PHONETIC SOCIETY 121
be hailed with delight by every one of the thou-
sands of spelling reformers in this country and in
America. . . . For the interest of the phonetic
cause in America especially would I urge the pro-
priety of your accepting the office of president of
a Society which I have from its commencement,
eleven years ago, served in the capacity of
secretary. There, where party feeling on most
subjects runs high, they suppose that you and I
are at variance as men because we have different
opinions on phonetics. It is in your power to
remove this impression, which is as hurtful to the
interests of morality as to the phonetic reform.
Mr. Ellis to Isaac Pitman.
I have read over your article on the proposed
new organization of the Phonetic Society, and also
your letter to me asking me to be President. It
is quite impossible for me to accept the office ;
indeed, I am not even aware that it is vacant,
having recently seen the name of Mr. George
Dawson printed as that of the President of the
Phonetic Society. You must excuse me from
entering upon my other reasons for declining to
allow my name to be placed at the head of your
Society, to which in my own opinion no other
name but your own could be prefixed, as it is
emphatically a Society of your own creation and
upholding. I will only say that I do not decline
from any party feeling on the subject of alphabets,
any dislike to the soonest possible advent of some
phonetic spelling, any disapproval of Phonography
in its present state, or any personal feeling against
yourself.
No change was made in the Presidency of the
122
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Phonetic Society, and Mr. Dawson continued to
fill that position.
In 1855 Isaac Pitman removed his private
residence from Nelson Place to No. 2 Lansdown
Terrace, Bath, situated at a much higher level
than the home he had vacated, and on the steep
road ascending from the city to the famous heights
of Lansdown. He was also at the same time
obliged at considerable inconvenience to remove
the Phonetic Institute from Albion Place. The
building he occupied had been acquired for the
Western Dispensary, and he had at short notice to
THE THIRD PHONETIC INSTITUTE, PARSONAGE LANE, BATH
The entrance " through dark passages and up narrow flights of stairs."
THIRD PHONETIC INSTITUTE 123
find suitable premises elsewhere for the accommo-
dation of his considerable printing plant and
growing staff. In Parsonage Lane, in the centre
of Bath, there are some substantially built and
capacious buildings used for a variety of industrial
purposes, and in one of these Isaac Pitman secured,
at the low rental of £15 a year, a room on the top
floor 53 ft. by 28 \ ft., which was lofty and well
A CORNER IN THE THIRD PHONETIC INSTITUTE
lighted, though there were very serious dis-
advantages and discomforts which made it a far
from ideal place for conducting the varied pursuits
of author, reformer, transfer writer, printer, and
publisher. The lane in which the building is
situated was at that time far from being a credit
to the City of Bath, while the approach to Isaac
Pitman's office from the entrance " through dark
passages and up narrow flights of stairs " was the
reverse of prepossessing. But the spacious room
124 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
occupied as the third Phonetic Institute was in
delightful contrast to its surroundings. From its
neatness and order it was a model office, and here
for the next eighteen years Isaac Pitman did some
of the best work of his life in the popularization of
his system of shorthand, and in the development
of phonotypic printing.
During 1855 there occurred what Isaac Pitman
designated as the " Websterian discussion on the
right of the Secretary of the Phonetic Society to
disseminate his religious opinions/ ' It had been
a regular custom of the Inventor of Phonography
to furnish all who desired phonographic or phonetic
publications with a modicum of New Church
literature in addition, and the Journal was also
made the vehicle for a similar propaganda. When
attention was directed to the matter by Mr.
William Webster, of Dundee, a number of pro-
minent phonographers and phoneticians belonging
to different communions gave expression to
emphatic opinions to the effect that they did not
desire the Reading and Writing Reform associated
with the propagation of any particular religious
tenets. Among those who expressed this view
were two Cambridge undergraduates who later on
assumed leading parts in the phonographic and
phonetic movement. One of these was Mr. C. H.
E. Wyche, who became a clergyman in the Church
of England, but met with an untimely death in
South Africa, being drowned while crossing a
river. The other was Mr. F. J. Candy (wrangler in
A COMPROMISE 125
1854) who took up a professorship of Mathematics
at Bombay, and was throughout his long life an
ardent phonographer and spelling reformer. Isaac
Pitman had strong views as to the duty incumbent
on him to " scatter the seeds of truth," but finally
hit on a compromise to which no reasonable
objection could be taken. While not yielding his
freedom of action as an individual, he agreed that
in his official capacity as Secretary of the Phonetic
Society he would no longer seek to propagate his
particular religious views.
XII
THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH EDITIONS OF
PHONOGRAPHY
1857-1862
Between the publication of the Second Edition of
Phonography, in 1840, and the last issue of the
Ninth Edition in 1855, the art had become the
most widely and generally used system of English
shorthand ever invented. Apart from the
literature produced by Isaac Pitman and sent out
from the Phonetic Institute, there was a con-
siderable output of periodical and other pro-
ductions lithographed in the characters of the
system and issued by various phonographers.
The Pitmanic text-books, published in different
forms, had attained large sales. The " Manual of
Phonography u was in its one hundred and fortieth
thousand, and the popular introductory text-book
— the precursor of the " Phonographic Teacher "
— was in its two hundred and thirtieth thousand.
While the system had been untouched in its main
features, the period had been one of experiment,
which had resulted in simplifications and useful
additions. For example, the half length principle
had been reduced to order, and the double length
principle introduced and applied to curved con-
sonants. The representation of the aspirate had
been improved, and consonant forms, which were
126
VOWEL SCALE EXPERIMENTS 127
badly needed for w and y, had been adopted.
At the same time several crudities had dis-
appeared. Thus far the evolution of the system
had given satisfaction. Improvements had been
effected after full consultation with the phono-
graphic body, and it was generally felt that they
added materially to the usefulness of the method
without any serious interference with the writing
habits of those who had acquired Phonography
from the earlier editions.
During the autumn of 1855 Isaac Pitman began
a series of experiments with the vowel scale of
Phonography, which had a most remarkable effect
on the future development of the system in this
country and in America. In this project he had
the co-operation of Mr. Charles Bagot Cayley
(1823-1883), the poet, and brother of Mr. Arthur
Cayley, the eminent mathematician. Mr. C. B.
Cayley came to Bath and resided with Isaac
Pitman for about a year while engaged at the
Phonetic Institute in the experiments above
mentioned, and afterwards in the considerable
labour of introducing the changes in the text-
books and other literature of the system. A less
courageous and determined man than Isaac
Pitman would have hesitated to . introduce im-
provements which could not fail to alienate a large
number of his most influential supporters ; to be
attended with much personal inconvenience to
himself ; to prove, moreover, a source of consider-
able loss in his publishing business, not only while
1 ee
1 z
1 ah '
2 eh ■
2<T •;
to
2 £/* •
3 ah .
3 a
3 ee .
128 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the changes were being introduced, but for a long
time after the appearance of the much criticized
Tenth Edition towards the end of 1857. But he
never allowed such considerations to hinder the
development of Phonography.
The improvement proposed in the system was
the following altered order of the vowel scale : —
Old Vowel Scale. New Vowel Scale.
1 a
2 e
3 z
This change involved a corresponding alteration
in the way and yay series, while the positions of
some half-dozen grammalogues were affected.
And the alteration, of course, revolutionized the
vowel notation and the observance of position.
The Ninth Edition writer had to partly change
his habits of writing in order to adopt the Tenth
Edition. A considerable number of phono-
graphers in this country and the bulk of American
phonographers of that generation never used the
new scale. But the improvements were twice
submitted to the vote of the Phonetic Society with
favourable results. In 1857 a total of 214 voted
for the new scale against 45 who were opposed to
it ; and in 1858, after a vigorous hostile campaign,
the votes were : For 191 ; against 58 ; neutral 38.
These majorities, consisting largely of teachers
who were specially interested in the future
^
H^y
3E
'CfNETIK SCTSSIETI
ov
GRE7T BRITEN AND EIRLAND.
A,
OBDJEKTS.
1. cle intmdukcon Ov an imprmvd mebod ov
titciij tu r.id de prezent buks, bei a kerrs ov in-
strukcon in fonetik buks.
2. 3e ekstencon ov de art ov Fernografi, or Fo-
netik Corjhand, bei de formecon ov fr.i or peiij
klasez, and bei gratiuitus titcirj form de post.
3. 3e reforms-con ov de orbografi ov de Inglic
laijg\vt:dj, bei de yuis, in lonhand reitig and printiij,
ov a Fonetik Alfabet dat kontenz a leter for itc
simpel and distigkt sound in de laijgwtdj.
Entrans FL, 6d., Aniual Subshripcon 6d. or eni heier
amount, peabel at de teim ov djoiniy de Seseieti, and on de
1st December, or at eni teim diurig de mund.
3is Kard ov Membercip Sertifeiz dat
iz enro-Id a Member ov de Fe-aetik Serseieti, Klas _X_.
r
If*
PHONETIC SOCIETY CARD OF MEMBERSHIP. 1857
NEW VOWEL SCALE 129
propagation of the system, confirmed the Inventor
of Phonography in the conviction that the im-
provement in the vowel scale was in the best
interests of the system and its practitioners. It
was one of those changes in which philosophic
desirability is happily associated with practical
expediency, and the improvement without ques-
tion makes the Tenth Edition one of the great
landmarks in the progress of Phonography.
" So radical a change as this," Isaac Pitman
wrote in introducing the new vowel scale to
phonographers, " would not be proposed on slight
grounds, nor for any reason that I did not consider
imperative. The alteration must be made now or
at some future time." He held that the old vowel
scale violated a fundamental principle of phonetic
writing which he had discovered in Dr. Latham's
work, but there was a far more practical reason
furnished in some observations Isaac Pitman made
early in 1858, when the controversy was at its
height. " Phonography, as regards the vowel
scale," he wrote, " started on a different principle
from that more or less employed in the formation
of other systems. In other systems a and its
cognate vowels were regarded as naturally the first
in the scale, because of the position of a in the
romanic alphabet. This reason did not appear
satisfactory, and it was proposed on philosophic
grounds that eey ty should be the first vowels.
These grounds have now been found untenable,
and it has been decided that the arrangement
*-(a284)
130 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
sanctioned by common usage is also the most
philosophical. How can it then be expected that
if we now adopt the ahy ehy ee scale, we shall ever
be called on to discard it ? The opposite scale, as
long as it is employed, may produce division among
phonographers, may increase the difficulties of the
learner in acquiring a notion of, or a liking for
Phonography, but can never afford a permanent
basis for a system to be as widely employed among
mankind as Phonography aims at being.,, The
Tenth Edition of Phonography, in addition to
having the new vowel scale, introduced the large
hook for -shony the small hook which had
previously done duty for this termination being
assigned to / and v.
n In spite of the support by a majority of the
Phonetic Society of the new vowel scale, the
opposition to it was both strenuous and vigorously
expressed. Mr. Reed was the protagonist of the
opposition in England. Mr. Ellis took no active
part in the controversy, but (unlike Mr. Reed)
adhered to the Ninth Edition throughout his life.
Isaac Pitman replied at length to Mr. Reed's
objections, and pointed out with considerable
force that the new and natural vowel scale formed
a complement to the natural arrangement of the
consonants, which had been adopted in the Second
Edition of Phonography. Many examples of vocal-
ized words were used as illustrations during the
discussion, and the form for ability N/1 was again
and again cited as an example of the advantage
ISAAC PITMAN
1859 {age 46)
OPPOSITION 131
of giving the vowel a its natural first position,
and i its natural third position, rather than
the positions they assumed under the old vowel
scale, in which ability was vocalized thus,
V| At the end of 1858, Mr. Reed, while
still believing the alteration unnecessary, an-
nounced his decision to adopt the new vowel scale,
rather than perpetuate the want of harmony which
had prevailed for a considerable period. But he
added significantly, " This will be the last occasion
on which we shall adopt any material alteration
in the system which we do not regard as a sub-
stantial improvement, and worth the labour
involved in the change/ '
A well-known London phonographer, Mr. Charles
Gahagan, editor of the Phonographer Examiner
and other periodicals, who had opposed from the
outset the introduction of what he was pleased
to describe as " the inverted or non-natural vowel
scale," continued the teaching and advocacy of
the Ninth Edition long after Mr. Reed had come to
the decision mentioned above, and as time passed
showed himself a most persistent and deter-
mined foe to the new vowel scale. He not only
taught the Ninth Edition extensively, but in 1858
he collected the votes of 767 phonographers —
presumably outside the ranks of the Phonetic
Society — and declared 648 favoured the retention
of the ee, eh, ah arrangement of the vowels. He
also promoted the British Phonetic Union, with
the Rev. Canon Gray, of Ripon Cathedral, as
132 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
President, M to unite phonographers upon the old
and tried vowel scale."
In America the discussion on the new vowel
scale created a great amount of interest and
excitement in phonetic circles. Mr. Benn Pitman
addressed his brother in vigorous terms on the
subject though, as regarded the improvement itself,
he expressed the opinion that it would yield " a
slight advantage in point of speed/ ' and he also
somewhat grudgingly admitted that " the pro-
posed alteration of the vowel scale is a nearer
approach to a philosophic alphabet/' but for
perhaps five or seven years he would continue to
publish his brother's Ninth Edition " without a
particle of alteration/ ' As a matter of fact the
waiting policy was never departed from by the
younger brother of the Inventor of Phonography.
The " Battle of the Styles " continued in
England for some years. Teachers who insisted
on having Ninth Edition books, were supplied
with them, but the stock was not inexhaustible,
and in time only the current Tenth Edition was
procurable. Those who objected to the transition
from the Ninth to the Tenth Edition did not
foresee that ere long other and almost as funda-
mental improvements would be introduced for
their acceptance. There were still some changes
to be made ere Phonography was brought to the
standard of perfection designed by its Inventor.
In the summer of 1861 further proposals were
submitted to the judgment of phonographers, on
ELEVENTH EDITION 133
which Isaac Pitman and Mr. Cayley had been for
some time experimenting. After an interval for
discussion, the Eleventh Edition of Phonography
was published in 1862, in which the improvements
introduced included alternative consonantal signs
for w, y, and h ; the prefix in- to the consonantal
form of h ; and large initial hooks to curves for
indicating the addition of / — an effective and
harmonious employment of hitherto unused
phonographic material.
The reasons given for the introduction of large
hooks into the system did not, however, commend
themselves to Mr. Reed's judgment, and he
accordingly carried into effect the resolution
already quoted. He declared himself a Tenth
Edition writer, and as there were many teachers
and writers who shared his objection to the big
hooks, a further schism in the ranks of phono-
graphic workers was created, which was not closed
for many years. " We see no sufficient reason,"
Mr. Reed wrote, " for changing to the Eleventh
Edition, with the prospect before us of having ere
long to change to the Twelfth and Thirteenth,
and so on ad infinitum," Mr. Reed's criticism
led the Inventor of Phonography to discontinue
the designation of new issues of his text-books as
" Editions " after the Twelfth. Isaac Pitman did
not favour attempts to perpetuate and propagate
Tenth Edition Phonography, and intimated that
he considered it " somewhat selfish " on the part
of teachers and writers not to recommend the
134 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Eleventh Edition. The phrase was hardly an
agreeable one, and Mr. Reed naturally rejoined
that those who differed from the Inventor of
Phonography, while they believed his motives to
be thoroughly disinterested, desired him to think
the same of theirs.
It became apparent, however, that the phono-
graphic community was not altogether prepared
for the changes which the Eleventh Edition intro-
duced, but those who were favourable to the Tenth
Edition found it no easy matter to teach it.
Appeals were made to Isaac Pitman to continue
to supply at least one of the instruction books in
the Tenth Edition, but these requests were not
acceded to. Yet in several quarters instruction
in the Tenth Edition was persevered in, and
teachers and professional writers found in the
Phonographic Reporter, a monthly magazine litho-
graphed in the Reporting Style by Mr. Reed, an
able champion of the Phonography of their choice.
The Eleventh Edition had the effect of bringing
into existence a body styled the Phonographic
Alliance, which was concerned in keeping the
standard of Phonography unchanged for a definite
period of time, and free from " spasmodic dis-
turbances/ ' Happily this strenuous controversy
over the two Editions had no effect on the cordial
personal relations of English phonographers with
the Inventor of Phonography and with each other.
There was an Art Treasures Exhibition at Man-
chester in the summer of 1857, and among the
AT MANCHESTER 135
various gatherings to which it gave rise was a
meeting for the promotion of the Reading and
Writing Reform, attended by Isaac Pitman. This
was held in the same hall at the Mechanics'
Institute in which he had first spoken to a Man-
chester audience sixteen 3^ears before, and his
address is noteworthy because at the opening he
reverently ascribed to the directing hand of
Providence the invention of the art of Phono-
graphy, reminding his hearers of the " most
certain " words of Shakspere—
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
These lines, it will be remembered, for many years
figured in the Introduction to the " Manual of
Phonography/' readers being exhorted that this
truth " should ever inspire men with energy and
perseverance to do something, however small, to
rectify error and replace evil by good.,,
At this time Isaac Pitman sustained a domestic
bereavement in the death of his wife, which
occurred on the 19th August, 1857, after an illness
extending over three years.
XIII
THE READING, WRITING, AND RECKONING
REFORM "
1857-1862
To the Spelling Reform, or Phonotypy, and the
Writing Reform, or Phonography, Isaac Pitman
added a third — the Reckoning Reform — at this
period. When very near the close of his life, he
was much gratified to find Herbert Spencer advo-
cating a duodecimal method of reckoning similar
to that which he had proposed so long before, and
he then wrote : " I formulated a Reckoning
Reform on the basis of Twelve forty years ago
(1856), used it for three or four years, advocated
it in my Phonetic Journal, kept my accounts in
it, and paged the Journal in it. The phonetic
alphabet was then on the anvil, and as I could not
do justice to both reforms, I let the Reckoning
Reform slide. A goodly portion of the brain of the
English nation has now taken it up, and I hope
we shall hear no more of changing our money,
weights, and measures, which are mostly on a
twelve basis ; but instead of the intolerable con-
fusion of altering the value and the name of every
coin, weight, and measure, we shall simply change
our mode of writing them, and introduce a few new
136
THE "RECKONING REFORM " 137
coins, measures, and weights, on the present basis
of value, and give them Saxon names.' '
The proposal to reform our time-honoured
methods of reckoning was as courageous as the
attack on our spelling ; what might have come
of the " Reckoning Reform' ' if it had been advo-
cated with the same persistence as the Spelling
Reform it is impossible to say. The fact must be
recorded, however, that Isaac Pitman did not find
many who were inclined to follow his example in the
use of a duodecimal method of numeration. A
brief summary of his proposals should, however,
find a place here, and is therefore given below : —
Duodecimal Notation : Add two figures to the present scale
for ten and eleven, thus :
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Z (ten), 8 (eleven), 10 (dozen).
Nomenclature : Units, Dozens, Grosses, Milliads ; no
higher name is necessary. To express numbers above a
dozen, say the names of the figures, and in writing the twelve
notation, separate the three lowest figures by a point ; thus,
4.9 = four dozen and nine ; 7.3.2. = seven gross, three dozen,
and two; 584.6.3.1. = five-eight-four milliads, six gross,
three dozen,, and one.
Money : Penny, Shilling, Mark (twelve shillings) , Banco
(paper money = £7 4s., in place of the £5 note).
Weight : Pounds, with twelfth sub-divisions.
Liquid Measure : Pint, Quart, Gallon, Hogshead ; with
fractions of a pint.
All calculations of the cost of articles would be performed
in plain figures, or by " simple " instead of " compound "
arithmetic.
138 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Example : What is the cost of 363 (three-six-ten, or three
gross, six dozen, and ten) yards of cloth at 2s. 4d. per yard ?
36S
24
1234
718
83S4
Answer : Eight Bancos, three Marks, eleven shillings, and
four pence.
The Spelling Reform question at this time
assumed an important place among the move-
ments which were attracting a large measure of
attention. Some influential public men had
become interested in the Reform, and gave
it personal and pecuniary assistance. From
this period may be said to date the patronage
and generous support of the Spelling Reform
by Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan (1797-1879),
the sixth Baronet, of Nettlecombe Court,
Taunton, and Wallington, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and
of his friendship with Isaac Pitman. The Spelling
Reform propaganda was from first to last a serious
financial drain on the resources of its originator.
The subscriptions of the members of the Phonetic
Society probably only defrayed the cost of free
literature, and the expenses of costly experiments
in the production of phonetic type were met by
special subscriptions and by the profits on the
sales of the shorthand books. But these sources
PRIZE ESSAYS 139
of income were insufficient, and Isaac Pitman
found it necessary to procure loans from friends
of the Reform, to whom interest at the rate of 5
per cent per annum was paid for the use of the
money. The highest amount which the loans
reached in the aggregate was £2,000. Sir Walter
afforded substantial aid in this way; the last
of his loans was repaid by Isaac Pitman in 1877.
Apart from his help in the shape of loans, Sir
Walter gave considerable sums to the movement.
In 1858 the hon. Baronet accepted the Presidency
of the Phonetic Society, which he filled until the
time of his death.
In the year 1857 attention was specially called
to the Spelling Reform movement by a generous
offer on the part of Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, of two
prizes of £100 and £40 respectively, " for the two
best and approved essays on a reform in the spelling
of the English language, by the introduction of a
phonetic instead of the present unphonetic
system. " The essays were to include, " An
historical account of the origin and growth of the
present imperfect system of spelling ; an analysis
of the system of articulate sounds ; and an exposi-
tion of those occurring in our language ; with a
notice of the various modes in which it has been
attempted to express these sounds graphically,
and a suggestion for doing so, in which care should
be taken that no letter should express more than
one sound, that no sound should be expressed by
more than one letter, and that as few new types as
140 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
possible should be admitted.0 The competition
was to be open to Great Britain and Ireland,
British North America, and the United States.
The adjudicators were Mr. A. J. Ellis, Dr. R. G.
Latham, Professor Max-Miiller, Isaac Pitman,
and Sir Walter C. Trevelyan. Eighteen essays
were received from various parts of England and
America, but not one of them, Mr. Reed states,
was adjudicated as meriting a prize, all the condi-
tions of the offer not having been fulfilled. Several
of the essays, however, were said to show much
talent, and Sir Walter Trevelyan, as the offerer
of the prizes, gave to the writer of one of the
essays (Professor S. S. Haldeman, of Columbia,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) the sum of £50, and a
further sum of £50 on the author undertaking
to revise, complete, and publish the essay. The
Professor published his essay in a quarto volume
of 148 pages. Sir Walter also gave £10 to the
writers of four other essays, namely, the Rev.
F. G. Fleay, vice-president of Culham Training
College, Abingdon ; Mr. James Kerr, M.A., the
Rev. R. Wells Whitford, and the Rev. Neil
Livingston.
In association with the competition described
above Isaac Pitman received a letter from Professor
Max-Miiller (1823-1900), which led to a life-long
friendship with the famous occupant of the Chair
of Comparative Philology at Oxford University.
Professor Max-Miiller' s communication to Isaac
Pitman was as follows : —
MAX-MULLER 141
I was well acquainted with the strenuous exertions which
you and some of your friends have been making in order to
effect a reform in the present system of English Orthography.
I possessed myself of several of your publications, and had
derived much information from a book, first published,
I believe, in your Journal, the " Alphabet of Nature," by
Mr. Ellis. What I wrote to Sir W. Trevelyan was only to
express my conviction, that though hitherto the reform of
English spelling had not met with that success which one
might have wished and expected, yet it was sure ultimately
to effect the desired result ; and that I thought the encourage-
ment which Sir Walter intended to give to this movement,
by offering a prize for the best Essay on the Reform of English
Spelling, very opportune and beneficial. My own line of
studies has led me to pay some attention to the general subject
of phonetics, and the origin and history of alphabetical
writing, and I was very much interested in seeing how this
science had been applied by you with so much ingenuity to
the practical purpose of reforming the English system of
spelling, and facilitating the method of learning to read and
write.
Soon afterwards Professor Max-Muller delivered
his well-known series of " Lectures on the Science
of Language " at the Royal Institution (1861-3).
In the first volume of the published lectures
occurred a forcible plea for reformed spelling, and
commendation of the Phonetic Reform. " I am
far from underrating/' Max-Muller said, " the
difficulties that stand in the way of such a reform,
and I am not so sanguine as to indulge in any
hopes of seeing it carried for the next three or four
generations. But I feel convinced of the truth
and reasonableness of the principles upon which
that reform rests." He had no doubt that our
" effete and corrupt orthography " would go :
142 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" Nations have before now changed their numer-
ical figures, their letters, their chronology, their
weights and measures ; and though Mr. Pitman
may not live to see the results of his persevering
and disinterested exertions, it requires no prophetic
power to perceive that what at present is pooh-
poohed by the many will make its way in the end,
unless met by arguments stronger than those
hitherto levelled at the Phonetic News"
At this period, in addition to the works in the
ordinary phonetic printing issued from the
Phonetic Institute, Isaac Pitman printed for the
British and Foreign Bible Society a number of
works in Mikmak (a language spoken by a tribe
of Indians in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia).
These included the Book of Genesis, the Book of
Psalms, St. Luke's Gospel, and the Acts of the
J_ HN umskwes pcrktumkifik Nikskem kisidergup
WBserk ck mfikumigou,
2 Hk mukumigou weskedek Bk sigweek, Bk ber-
gunitpak ekup wolkergumigegu. Hk Nikskfim
uit9idJBk'midj,l etlimadJBsilib'nn uiskitpfiktuigu.
3 Hk Nikskfim eep : Wosadetcj ; tokui wosa-
degup.
4 Hk Nikskfim nemidergup wosadek uikulml-
tununu. Hk Nikskfim wedjitepkisB-dergup wosa-
dek bergunitptsk iktuik.
5 Hk Nikskfim teluliidugup wosadek negwek,
fik bcrgunitpfik teluiiidugup depkak. Terkui webs-
guip ck eskitpuiguip umskwesewe nBgwek. f
FACSIMILE OF GENESIS i. I-5, PRINTED IN MIKMAK.
AMERICAN PHONETICIANS 143
Apostles. The three other Gospels were printed
by the missionary, the Rev. S. T. Rand. The
plan of teaching Indians to read by the phonetic
alphabet was " a decided success/ '
A few words may be added here as to the
progress of the Spelling Reform in America. Mr.
Andrews, in addition to his phonographic books,
published a phonotypic reader. Some years
later a more vigorous impulse was given to the
movement in the United States by the phonetic
books and periodicals published by Mr. Elias
Longley, of Cincinnati. In later years, and down
to the present day, American phoneticians have
devoted considerable attention to Spelling Reform.
On 21st April, 1861, Isaac Pitman married his
second wife, Miss Isabella Masters, of Bath, and
the honeymoon was spent on the Continent.
XIV
A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF PHONOGRAPHY —
PRESENTATION TO THE INVENTOR
1862
In 1862 Pitmanic shorthand had been before the
world for twenty-five years, and at this point we
may with advantage review its position. There
was one noticeable feature about Phonography
which distinguished it from all other shorthand
systems that had preceded it. A large and varied
phonographic periodical press had appeared in
Great Britain devoted to the art ; Australia had
also its periodicals ; and there were, of course,
many published in the United States. Such a
number of journals could only flourish if the art
were very extensively cultivated, and the informa-
tion given in this chapter demonstrates that this
was unquestionably the case. Mr. Reed is of
opinion that at this time " the great majority of
newspaper reporters throughout the country em-
ployed Phonography in their daily avocations/ '
A proportion of the older hands, who had learnt
shorthand before Phonography was invented,
were non-phonographers, but the new method
had done such good work that it could no longer
be denounced as impracticable.
When the Inventor of Phonography visited
Manchester in 1841, his system was criticized in
144
THE SHORTHAND CLERK 145
a not altogether favourable way in the Manchester
Guardian, but Mr. John Harland, the famous
reporter, afterwards one of the proprietors of that
paper, and himself a shorthand author, made
handsome amends later on by his tribute to the
philosophical and stenographic excellence of
Phonography. "We believe," he wrote in the
Guardian, " that it contains within itself the power
of becoming superior to all, with the further
improvements and augmentations which a careful
revision on the part of its author and his pupils,
in the course of a few years, will be able to give
it." The prediction of 1843 had been amply
fulfilled 5 in 1857 when Isaac Pitman was invited
to address a meeting at the Mechanics' Institution
there, a resolution was passed recording the opinion
of the gathering that Phonography was " the
briefest and most legible system of shorthand/ '
and in 1862 we find that all the reporters of the
Manchester newspapers used Phonography. It
was at this time, too, in Manchester, that Sir
Edward W. Watkin, then Chairman of the Man-
chester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Co.
(now the Great Central), introduced the practice
of dictating correspondence to shorthand writers,
and classes were established by him, with Mr.
Henry Pitman as instructor, who continued to
teach the railway clerks Phonography for fifty
yesfrs.
The practice initiated in Manchester was soon
followed by other railway companies, and also in
10— -(2284)
146 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
commercial and legal offices, and Mr. Reed records
that " about this time advertisements began to
appear in the newspapers for assistants who could
render this kind of service.,, A new employment,
that of shorthand clerk, was created by Phono-
graphy, and Isaac Pitman did much to promote
it through his Journal. Even in the most con-
servative sphere of professional shorthand writing,
that of note-taking in the London law courts,
where son succeeded father, and the same short-
hand had been practised for generations, fresh
practitioners writing the new system found their
way, and the excellent work they did led to the
softening of old prejudices against Phonography.
In America there was no daily newspaper which
did not employ phonographic reporters, and the
system had been subjected to a severe test in
scientific reporting by Dr. Stone, who took notes
of lectures by Agassiz, the distinguished professor
of natural history at Harvard, on comparative
embryology, with an exactitude which was most
remarkable.
In the early part of 1859 a movement was set
on foot in London for recognizing by a substantial
token of appreciation Isaac Pitman's unwearied
and disinterested labours for close upon a quarter
of a century in the promotion of the Reading and
Writing Reform. Although the output of phono-
graphic and phonotypic books was very great, the
phonotypic branch of the movement was a heavy
drain on the resources of its originator and
PROPOSED TESTIMONIAL 147
principal promoter, and he had found it necessary,
as we have seen, to borrow considerably to carry
on the work. It was thought that a pecuniary
gift would be acceptable, and accordingly a com-
mittee was formed, the Rev. C. H. E. Wyche being
appointed chairman. Assurances of support were
received from different parts of the country, and it
was decided to consult the proposed recipient.
Mr. Wyche therefore wrote the following letter : —
11 York Place, Kennington, London, S.,
12 Aug., 1859.
Dear Sir,
I have been requested to communicate with you on a
subject more agreeable than the little matters of business
which usually call for a letter to you.
It seems that Phonographers in various parts of the country
have come to the conclusion that the present is a fit time for
testifying their appreciation of the beautiful Art for which they
are indebted to you, as well as the estimation in which they
hold your personal character and your unwearied labours in
the Phonetic cause. They desire accordingly to begin raising
a subscription for a Testimonial, and they wish to know
whether you would accept such a recognition, provided, of
course, it were offered in a form of which you could approve.
If I remember rightly, Phonographers of America did, some
years ago, subscribe for such a purpose, but you refused to let
their Testimonial take the form of a personal gift, and
requested them to retain the money so raised as the nucleus
of a Phonetic fund for the promotion of the Reform in the
United States.
It occurred to my mind at that time that it would have
been better had you accepted the offering, and devoted it
yourself to this good purpose. I cannot help thinking that
something of the kind might very properly be done now.
It would be a proof that Phonographers, although divided on
148 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
some points, yet agree in the high value which they set upon
their Art, and in grateful feelings towards its Inventor ; and
it would be a practical proof to the American phoneticians
that many of the statements put forth in that country with
respect to yourself are without any real foundation.
It has been suggested that a Committee of London Phono-
graphers should be formed to carry out this good intention,
and I have been asked to act as its Chairman, but before
proceeding in the matter I wish to know your opinion of it, —
whether such a Testimonial would be accepted by you ; and,
if so, as a secondary matter, in what form it would be most
acceptable.
I remain, very truly yours,
Cyril H. E. Wyche.
To Mr. Isaac Pitman, Bath.
Isaac Pitman's reply to this communication
showed a grateful appreciation of the kindly
proposal of his friends, and he described the letter
as " one of those rarely occurring events in life
in which we recognize the Angel of the Divine
Providence as soon as he is at our side." He
made it clear, however, that he should devote the
proposed testimonial to the cause to which he
had devoted his life. He proposed that the fund
should be used for building a Phonetic Institute —
a home suitable for the work in association with
Phonography and Phonotypy, and in which the
printing establishment of the Reform could be
housed. He considered that a suitable building
could be erected for £1,000. " I am not able
to build it myself," he said, " because to say
nothing of twenty-two years of personal labour,
I have given more than twice this sum to the
PRESENTATION 149
cause in various ways." His office in Parsonage
Lane was most unsuitable for his work, and he
drew a lugubrious picture of the discomforts of
the place.
The Pitman Testimonial was at once promoted,
and the Committee, with Sir Walter C. Trevelyan
at their head, issued an appeal for subscriptions.
The sum of about £350 was collected, and on 26th
June, 1862, the presentation was made at a meeting
convened for the purpose, held at the rooms of
the Young Men's Christian Association, Aldersgate
Street, London, at which the recipient of the
testimonial attended, accompanied by Mrs. Pitman.
As the amount raised was not sufficient to carry out
Isaac Pitman's idea, the gift took the form of a
cheque and a handsome marble timepiece, which
bore the following inscription : —
Presented, with a purse of £350, to Isaac Pitman, the
Inventor of Phonography, by many friends of the phonetic
system, in token of their high appreciation of its many
excellences, and of his untiring labours in its extension.
A good many speeches were made, and eloquent
testimony borne to the personal esteem in which
the Inventor of Phonography was held. The Rev.
C. H. E. Wyche (Chairman) happily expressed the
appreciation of phonographers of Isaac Pitman's
untiring and unselfish labours in the dissemination
of Phonography. Had he made his invention an
article of merchandise, he would have been by that
time a rich man— but then they would not have
ISO SIR ISAAC PITMAN
met together to do him honour. He chose,
however, a different method, and had improved
his system and made it known as widely as possible
by publishing it at a price barely remunerative.
Their testimonial was presented to him as Inventor
of Phonography, but they did not forget his
labours, in association with Mr. Ellis, in the
invention of a system of phonetic spelling.
Resolutions in favour of the Writing and
Printing Reform were unanimously passed.
The reception given to Isaac Pitman, when he
rose to acknowledge the presentation, was most
enthusiastic, and evoked from him a sincere
expression of gratitude. His admirers were, how-
ever, hardly prepared for the remarkable dis-
claimer to which he saw fit to give expression, that
" he invented nothing and discovered nothing/ '
that during a thoughtful walk in the neighbour-
hood of Paddington, he had come to the conclusion
that Phonography was a " usufruct " — " a fruit
of use " — and so forth. While it was, of course,
true that phonetic notation was no new thing,
and that the art of shorthand had been in vogue
more or less since the days of Cicero, it was equally
true that Isaac Pitman invented the system of
Phonography with which his name is associated.
The disclaimer was, indeed, not consistent with
his assertion — and very just assertion — from time
to time of the usual author's rights in the phono-
graphic treatises he had written. This self-
abnegation, though not an unusual trait of Isaac
FINANCING PHONOTYPY 151
Pitman's character, and manifested on occasions
like the present, was, to say the least, liable
to be misunderstood. It is probable, however,
that he desired to express a sentiment similar
to that which inspired his Manchester speech
of 1857.
The question as to what use he should make of
the £350 presented to him led its recipient to
discuss quite frankly his financial position in
relation to Phonography and the Spelling Reform.
" I feel," he said, " that I have no right to receive
such a sum of money as £350 and appropriate it
to my own purposes." Mr. Ellis was the only man
besides himself who had spent a large sum of
money on the Reform. But unlike Mr. Ellis, he
had not a fortune at his command, and hence
could only spend money as it came in from the
sale of shorthand and other books. He then
mentioned the amount of capital he had borrowed
(£2,000) and explained how the money had gone
in the improvement of the phonetic printing
alphabet : " The alphabet which Mr. Ellis and
myself had employed until 1851 was so defective
that type-founders and printers would not look at
it as a possible alphabet for representing the
English language in books. Mr. Besley, the
eminent type-founder, remonstrated somewhat
sharply with me for thinking to overturn good-
looking printing by bad. ' Your page/ said he, ' is
covered with little hooks, and tails, and triangles/
I spared no labour and no expense in removing this
152 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
obstacle to the general introduction of phonetic
printing/ '
He had given his means so entirely to the
movement that if he had not already spent on the
phonetic alphabet the sum with which he was
presented he should devote it to the Reform in
some other way. What he eventually did with
the money will be related later on. In the course
of his long and interesting speech Isaac Pitman
gave statistics of the sale of phonographic books
during the past year, from which it appeared that
there had been a total sale of 90,000 publications,
although the demand had been low in consequence
of the anticipated appearance of a new and
improved edition of Phonography. Cheered by
the progress made he added, " I return to Bath
with a determination not to work so many hours
as I have for twenty years, but to work with the
same application of mind as of old. My hours of
labour from the beginning of the Reform to about
a year ago, were from six in the morning till ten
in the evening, taking out three hours for meals
and exercise. I have now made a change, and
1 knock off ' at half -past six. I intend to continue
to labour at this good work twelve and a half hours
per day, and, with your kind co-operation,
I think that will be sufficient to keep the Reform
in motion, and realize, in the end, all that we
desire."
In association with Isaac Pitman's allusion to
his labours given above, Mr. Reed's observations
AN EARLY CALL 153
at this gathering on his method of daily work are
of particular interest. Mr. Reed said : —
Those who have witnessed Mr. Pitman's labours in that
remarkable little spot called Parsonage Lane, descriptions of
which some of you possibly may have read, must have been
struck with admiration at the intensity of labour and of
earnestness which he has exhibited. I could tell you if I had
the time, of instances of it that I have myself observed,
I have on more than one occasion partaken of Mr. Pitman's
hospitality at Bath, and on the last occasion he was good
enough to invite me to his house, he asked me to go with him
to his office the next morning for the purpose of running over
some proof-sheets of a work that was then going through the
press, — an invitation that I gladly accepted, as I am at any
time delighted to show him my willingness to render him any
little services I can in the adaptation of the system to useful
purposes. We retired to rest at eleven o'clock. Mr. Pitman
asked me if he should call me the next morning. I thanked
him, and requested him to be good enough to do so. It was
then in the depth of winter. In the morning when I was fast
asleep some raps came at my door, which after being repeated
some few times awoke me. You must know that I am not
one of the " rising " generation. I responded in a sleepy kind
of way ; the door opened, and I saw Mr. Pitman's familiar
features. He entered holding a light, and announced that it
was actually five o'clock in the morning. I rose and was
speedily dressed, but not in so short a time as Mr. Pitman
takes. I joined him, and we took a walk of nearly a mile
down a very steep hill on a cold December morning, under
circumstances not the most comfortable for sensitive nerves,
and at about ten minutes to six we were in front of his office
in Parsonage Lane. At about six o'clock we were seated at
his desk, by gaslight, of course, and for two hours we waded
through some pages of the little book upon which Mr. Pitman
was then at work. Having laboured for two hours, we
returned just as it was getting daylight, ascended the steep
hill leading to Lansdown Crescent, and found ourselves in
excellent condition for breakfast. I have no doubt that if any
154 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
other visitor had called upon Mr. Pitman just before ten
o'clock that night, he would have found him still at his desk,
as absorbed as ever in the mysteries of the phonetic art.
This is, I believe, a fair specimen of Mr. Pitman's general
labours, under which any ordinary mortal would certainly
succumb. And when we see that all these labours are devoted
to a cause from which he himself derives little or no personal
benefit beyond a bare living, we shall all the more admire the
disinterestedness which is so conspicuous a characteristic of
the man.
XV
A CHARACTER SKETCH — ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION ON " BRIEF WRITING "
1862-1864
There appeared in September, 1862, in Weldon's
Register , a popular periodical of that time, a
character sketch of Isaac Pitman, written by Mr.
William White, (author of a voluminous life of
Swedenborg), who was associated with New
Church publishing work, and whose name for
some years figured on the title page of the phono-
graphic text-books as publisher, in addition to
Mr. Frederick Pitman. Mr. White had a very
intimate knowledge of the Inventor of Phono-
graphy, and insight into his character. His
graphic description of Isaac Pitman at work, when
read along with the reminiscences quoted at the
end of the last chapter, furnish a vivid picture
both of the man and of his methods, which did
not alter materially during the rest of his working
life. Mr. White began by observing that the name
of Isaac Pitman would not be found in " Men of
the Time " — an omission that was made good in
later years — and went on to observe that Isaac
Pitman had effected a great work in his generation,
but it had not become " the talk of the news-
papers/' and consequently many well-informed
155
156 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
men were ignorant of him and his schemes. This
assertion needs qualification, but at any rate it
afforded Mr. White the pretext for giving the
readers of the Register a lucid historical account
of the Reform (introductory to his personal sketch
of its Inventor), which furnished the basis of
several articles on the same subject published in
later years.
" If/' wrote Mr. White, " we were asked to name
the most diligent and hard-working man we know,
it would be Isaac Pitman. It is a treat to visit
his printing office in Bath. Printing offices are
usually very dirty and untidy places ; but Mr.
Pitman's office, save for its furniture, might be a
lady's drawing-room. Everything is in what, for
some unknown reason, is called ' apple-pie ' order.
In a large room sits Mr. Pitman himself, writing
an article, reading a proof, or answering a letter.
His correspondence is immense ; letters and papers
flow in upon him from every part of the world.
He attends to all himself. Those who write to
him in ordinary handwriting he answers in long-
hand phonetic spelling, but the mass of his corre-
spondence is in Phonography ; and the speed
and ease with which he writes enables him to get
through an amount of work which would else
seem fabulous. We wish we could reproduce one
of Mr. Pitman's phonographic letters on this page.
Written on a scrap of ruled paper, half the size
of an ordinary page of note-paper, would be seen
a series of lines, circles, and dots, sharp and delicate
as if traced by a fairy, and containing as much
matter as an ordinary letter of four pages. A
most courteous correspondent, he commences in
AN ORDERLY OFFICE 157
the ancient style, ' Isaac Pitman to Mr. , or
Mrs. -, or Miss / as it may be, and goes
on to say what is necessary in a free, kindly, and
concise style, closing his letter with the simple
word ' Farewell/
" Letters in this way he writes off by the score,
without haste, and with an ease which fills one,
used to drudge with the pen in the customary
fashion, with pity for his own sad lot. Mr. Pitman
carries into his printing office the regime of the
schoolmaster ; he is a strict disciplinarian. No
talking is allowed, beyond necessary questions
and orders, and the quiet is unbroken except by
the click of the types, or the packing of parcels
for the carrier or the post. Seeing his set of
apprentices so sedulously and silently at work,
and the prim order which pervades the place, is
really tempting to one's mischievous propensities,
and stirs the desire to cry out, ' Boys, do let's
have a romp and tumble things about ! ' We have
sometimes amused ourselves with drawing com-
parisons between Isaac Pitman and John Wesley ;
and, did we believe in the transmigration of souls,
we might imagine that the soul of Wesley had left
its ' world parish ' to write shorthand, and per-
suade Englishmen to spell phonetically. Unlike
Wesley, Pitman is tall, but, like him, he is spare
and muscular, with bright eyes, a keen face, and
rapid motions. Like Wesley, his habits are
regular, and almost ascetic. He goes to bed early,
and rises early summer and winter, and may almost
invariably be found posted at his desk by six in the
morning. Except for the progress of his work,
he seems to have no care in the world. He sees
no company ; he seldom dines from home, or pays
visits, and, first in his office in the morning, he is
158 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
last to leave it at night. He delights in walking
exercise, and scampers over miles of country with
the same ease that his pen goes over paper. Like
Wesley, he is very abstemious : wine, beer, or
spirits of any kind never pass his lips : nor fish,
flesh, nor fowl. For years he has been a strict
vegetarian ; and, but for a cold now and then, he
has enjoyed perfect health. As if his shorthand
and phonetic printing were not enough to task
all his powers, he preaches twice each Sunday in
a little chapel, at Twerton, a village a short way
from Bath. Like Wesley, he has no love for
money save for its uses in promoting his ends.
His personal wants are few and simple, and every
penny beyond what is required for them is devoted
to the phonetic propaganda. Like Wesley he has
a governing and despotic temper. In all things
he takes his own way. He hears the advice of a
disciple in the blandest and most candid spirit.
The disciple thinks, surely never was there a man
more pliable than this. But if he observes care-
fully, he will discover he has made no progress.
Somehow, he will find that Pitman has not changed
his mind, and has rejected his disciple's advice,
but yet so kindly that the rejection gives no pain,
but almost pleasure. His alterations in Phono-
typy and Phonography have usually been proposed
in the face of strong opposition \ but he has always
carried them. Consciously or unconsciously he
makes up his mind as to what ought to be done,
and though he undergoes much palaver with all
the appearance of being affected by it, he ends in
executing his programme to the final letter.
Alternately he is accused of fickleness and obsti-
nacy : of fickleness, because when he sees, or
fancies he sees, a possible improvement, he will
BRITISH ASSOCIATION 159
pull down any amount of building to make room
for it ; and of obstinacy, because what he thinks
right he does, whatever be the outcry/ '
In some comments on the above extract Isaac
Pitman mentioned that his ministrations to a New
Church congregation in the village of Twerton
had been discontinued, and that he was tempo-
rarily taking the services at the New Church,
Henry Street, Bath, the minister, Mr. James
Keene, being indisposed. As to the application
to himself of the term " despot/ ' he remarked,
" I feel sure that Mr. White used the word in no
harsh sense, as implying the love of rule for its
own sake, but simply the love of order, use, and
beauty/ '
The annual meeting of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science was held at
Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1863, under the presidency
of Sir William (afterwards Lord Armstrong) who,
among other topics, referred in his address to the
waste of time and labour attendant on the use of
the common longhand, and threw out suggestions
in the following terms : —
The facility now given, to the transmission of intelligence
and the interchange of thought is one of the most remarkable
features of the present age. Cheap and rapid postage to all
parts of the world ; paper and printing reduced to the lowest
possible cost ; electric telegraphs between nation and nation,
town and town, and now even (thanks to the beautiful inven-
tions of Professor Wheatstone) between house and house, — all
contribute to aid that commerce of ideas by which wealth and
knowledge are augmented. But while so much facility is
160 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
given to mental communication by new measures and new
inventions, the fundamental art of expressing thought by
written symbols remains as imperfect now as it has been for
centuries past. It seems strange that while we actually
possess a system of shorthand by which words can be recorded
as rapidly as they can be spoken, we should persist in writing
a slow and laborious longhand. It is intelligible that grown-up
persons who have acquired the present conventional art of
writing should be reluctant to incur the labour of mastering
a better system ; but there can be no reason why the rising
generation should not be instructed in a method of writing
more in accordance with the activity of mind which now
prevails. Even without going so far as to adopt for ordinary
use a complete system of stenography, which it is not easy to
acquire, we might greatly abridge the time and labour of
writing by the recognition of a few simple signs to express the
syllables which are of most frequent occurrence in our language.
Our words are in a great measure made up of such syllables as
com, con, Hon, ing, able, ain, ent, est, ance, etc. These we
are now obliged to write out over and over again, as if time
and labour expended in what may be termed visual speech
were of no importance. Neither has our written character
the advantage of distinctness to recommend it.
An utterance so notable on the importance of
shorthand, and a recognition so generous of the
merits of Phonography, was greatly appreciated
by all phonographic practitioners, and not least
by their leader. It suggested to Isaac Pitman
the idea of offering a paper on the subject for the
forthcoming meeting of the British As9ociation in
his own city. His offer was accepted, and a paper
with the title " Brief Writing N was prepared to be
read before the Section of Economics and Statistics
on 20th September, 1864. But, as is not infre-
quently the case, there were more papers down
LONGHAND ABBREVIATIONS 161
for reading than could be delivered in the time
available, so that Isaac Pitman's had perforce to
be " taken as read." Copies were handed to all
present, and the paper was duly included in the
published Transactions of the British Association.
It was afterwards issued in separate pamphlet
form, and as it contained a full description and
explanation of the art, it brought Phonography
under the notice of many who would not have
taken an interest in it had it not been introduced
to them under the aegis of the British Association.
In the course of his paper Isaac Pitman showed
the insufficiency of longhand abbreviations, and
made some observations on the respective legi-
bility of longhand and shorthand which merit
reproduction. He pointed out the insufficiency
of any mere longhand abbreviations such as
those suggested by Sir William Armstrong, and
stated his objections to their introduction.
" The game," he wrote, " is not worth the candle.
All can abbreviate if they like, yet only reporters
and lawyers do it. If the game were worth the
candle, we should all soon fall into the same
contractions, but the truth is we do not want them.
Abbreviations were formerly in extensive use,
when fewer people wrote, but now they have all
gone out, except the Latin et for and, in the form
of ' & ' — that is, the letter e written across t ; the
downstroke of ' &/ which represents t, being
written first. With most people who spend but a
small portion of their time in writing, abbreviations
are not worth the effort of mind necessary in
ir- (2284)
162 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
keeping up two habits of writing the same word.
On some occasions it is necessary, or at least
advisable, to write every word fully, and if the
hand were accustomed in its ordinary style to
abbreviate some words, it would hesitate when
called upon to write the same words in another
manner. No one can write fluently, either in
longhand or shorthand, whose hand thinks, so to
speak, how it shall form the words. It must form
them without thinking, and leave all thinking to
the brain. In the quotation which I have just
read from Sir Wm. Armstrong, consisting of 346
words, and containing 1,626 letters, there would
be but 47 letters saved by the adoption of the
abbreviations therein recommended ; that is, for
the loss of power through occasional hesitation in
the act of writing, there would be a gain of 3 per
cent. If we were to adopt, in addition, all the
abbreviations which reporters use in transcribing
their notes for the press, writing a slanting stroke
/ for the, & for and, o for of, wh for which, t for
that, etc., the saving would be 8 per cent addi-
tional. This saving of 11 per cent is of consider-
able importance to men who spend many hours
each day in writing, but it is not sufficient to
commend the system for general adoption. Long-
hand is still too long, and we must recur to the
alphabet as the proper subject of abbreviation/ '
Referring to Sir William's suggestion that some
of the longhand letters should be more clearly
distinguished from others, Mr. Pitman said : " His
objection lies against the n, u classes of letters.
Of the first kind we have m, n, r, v ; and of the
second i, H% u, w, and portions of other letters.
The use of r, in preference to H, increases the
legibility of a rapid style of penmanship. The evil
BAD WRITING 163
complained of lies in the alphabet — in the
numerous strokes we have to scribble, to get down
one word. Men accustomed to dispatch in other
things cannot endure a tedious style of writing ;
they hurry through their work, and spoil it,
forgetting that whatever is written has to be read.
Writing-masters distinguish the curves that form
the ny u classes of letters, as over-curves (n) and
under-curves (u). Swift writers generally make
only under-curves, because this is an easier action
of the hand than the over-curve, thus mingling all
these letters of both classes in an undistinguishable
mass of under-curves ; but surely everyone who
has time for longhand writing, should consider
himself, in justice to the reader, bound to distin-
guish n from u, m from ni, uiy iny etc. ; and be
especially careful to dot the letters i and /. The
want of these distinctive points is one of the most
serious impediments in the reading of bad manu-
script. I find that I can decipher writing made
up of under-curves if the dots or jots be placed
over i and j ; but writing that consists of under-
curves only, where these dots are omitted, is hope-
lessly illegible. As a bad servant is said to be
1 the greatest plague of life ' domestic, so bad
writing maybe called the greatest plague of literary
and commercial life. Not infrequently I receive
letters, the signatures of which I am utterly unable
to decipher. In such cases I cut out the name,
gum it on my reply, and hand over the puzzle to
the post-office. The letter finds its way by virtue
of the other portions of the address. Shorthand
signatures are very rarely illegible. Phonetic
shorthand is much more legible than longhand,
supposing both styles to be written with equal
rapidity, but whether the penman or our cumbrous
164 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
alphabet is to be blamed for making a mess of such
words as minimum, ammunition, there is no pro-
position before us for changing the forms of any
of these letters ; and whoever may propose new
forms must make his script letters harmonize with
the roman and italic printing letters ; for italic
type is simply script letters disconnected, and
roman type, except in the two letters ' a, g,' is
merely italic made upright.' '
In the year 1864 the Royal Society of Arts
held its first annual examination in shorthand.
Mr. Frederick Pitman was the first examiner,
and the following notification appeared in the
Society's syllabus : " Candidates beginning the
study of shorthand are recommended to adopt
Phonography."
The first adaptation of Isaac Pitman's system
of Phonography to any foreign language made its
appearance in 1864, when Sefior Guilldrmo Parody
published his adaptation of the art to the Spanish
language under the patronage of the Argentine
Government, which established a hall for the
teaching of Spanish Phonography in the National
College, and promoted the use of the art in
reporting the proceedings of Congress, in which it
has been successfully practised ever since.
A slight carriage accident on 16th March, 1864,
for a time incapacitated Isaac Pitman, and the
shorthand supplement to his Journal was sus-
pended for some weeks. This was the year of
the Shakspere Tercentenary Celebrations, and the
SHAKSPERE TERCENTENARY 165
Inventor of Phonography not only took a great
interest in the civic honours which were paid to
the national poet at Bath, but through the
medium of his Journal on the memorable 23rd
April circulated the play of i( The Tempest " in
reformed spelling.
XVI
PHONOGRAPHIC AUTHORSHIP— TESTIMONY IN THE
JUSTICIARY COURT AT EDINBURGH— ADDRESS AT
MANCHESTER
1865-1872
The period of seven years between the dates given
above was with Isaac Pitman one of prolific work
in phonographic authorship and transfer writing,
which resulted in many valuable and interesting
additions to the literature of the system, and of
improvements in existing works. Opposition to
the changes introduced in the Tenth and Eleventh
Editions no longer seriously hindered the progress
of Phonography, and the antagonism to the im-
provements did not now affect its fortunes to any
appreciable extent. There had been considerable
changes in the text-books since Mr. Reed took
his historic stand on the Tenth Edition, and it
was not easy to teach either the Ninth or Tenth
Editions of Phonography by modifications of their
rules. To assist in the continued teaching of the
Tenth Edition, Mr. Reed brought out a little
book of exercises in 1871, of which Isaac Pitman
expressed strong disapproval. The work had
little, if any, effect in checking the teaching of
Phonography by the new books, but it had the
unfortunate result of estranging for a time the
166
PHONOGRAPHIC CHANGES 167
two friends, though happily in later years the
friendship was re-established as firmly as ever.
With regard to the improvements introduced
into the system from time to time, Isaac Pitman
never had the intention or desire — as he certainly
had not the power — to coerce any writer of his
system to adopt the alterations. For example,
in September, 1871, he wrote thus : "A change
in the manner of writing Phonography is no slight
matter to a reporter. We do not wonder then
that Mr. Reed does not alter his manner of writing
some few words that differ in his style and ours ;
and that reporters engaged on the Press generally
have not adopted the few improvements that have
from time to time been made in the system. To
do so would imply a kind of indiscretion/ ' But
apart from those who used the system profession-
ally, it was Isaac Pitman's desire that future
learners of Phonography should have the benefit
of such improvements in it as its more extensive
use showed to be practicable or desirable. The
growth of the literature of the system, however,
caused some reluctance on the part of his brother,
Mr. Frederick Pitman, to adopt the new forms
for kw and skw, which were introduced in 1869.
It was not, in fact, till two years later that he
used these improvements in the magazines con-
trolled by himself. But fortunately for the
system and its practitioners, from the period at
which we have arrived, and onward, no further
organic changes were made. To the Spelling
168 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Reform movement the same remarks apply gener-
ally. There was experiment and consultation
with the Phonetic Society, and this resulted in the
introduction of a limited number of improved
phonotypic forms which rendered the phonetic
printing alphabet far more useful, acceptable, and
presentable than it had ever been before.
At this time Isaac Pitman was engaged on the
production of two phonographic works of reference
which involved a vast amount of labour and
application. The first of these was a new edition
(the third) of the " Phonographic Dictionary/'
a lithographed work consisting of 336 crown 8vo
pages, containing shorthand outlines for all the
principal words in the English language, together
with the longhand spelling of each. A companion
work was also taken in hand which materially
assisted in the reading of doubtful unvocalized
shorthand outlines. This laborious undertaking
is described by Mr. Reed as follows : —
" About this date (1867) we find Isaac Pitman
bringing out a new shorthand book, the prepara-
tion of which involved an immense amount of
labour. It is, in its way, a marvel of industry,
and required almost as much patience as the
collation of the marginal references in Bagster's
Bible. Some twelve years previously Isaac
Pitman had carefully written out all the words
in the ' Shorthand Dictionary ' not exceeding
in outline three consonant strokes (and in Phono-
graphy very few ordinary words require more),
and had them cut up and sorted according to the
"THE REPORTER'S ASSISTANT" 169
Phonetic Alphabet. From this extensive list all
the words containing the same consonants were
classified, first according to their forms, and
secondly according to their position as determined
by the principal vowel. The list was designed
to bring before the reporter all the words occurring
under any particular combination of consonants
as to the meaning of which he might be doubtful
in his work of transcription ; thus under p-s-tion
he would see apposition, opposition, possession,
{com)position ; and under p, t, r, n, pattern
(written by pty rn), patron (p, trn), upturn (p, t, rn).
He would thus be shown the best way of differ-
entiating these words either by position or outline,
the system admitting, to a greater extent than
any other, of two or more varieties of form for
the same consonants, thus rendering the insertion of
vowels almost superfluous. The weight of the MS.
of this work is 16 lb. It was prepared by writing
the words in shorthand, with the consonants in
longhand underneath, on thin card. The words
were then cut up, sorted into basins, as to their
first consonant, then as to the second, and again
as to the third, etc., in accordance with the
Phonetic Alphabet, and pasted in a folio blank
book. From this a fair copy was made, and
published in a lithographed edition, 1867, under
the title of ' The Reporter's Assistant/ In a
second edition the shorthand outlines were printed
from metal types."
It is a striking indication of the extent to which
Phonography was cultivated at this period that
the business of producing literature in phono-
graphic characters may be said to have been added
170 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
to the literary industries of the country, and the
widespread popularity of the art was demonstrated
by the great number of periodicals and books
which made their appearance from this date on-
ward. Isaac Pitman's own work was, however,
never excelled by any of those who engaged in
this method of production. As supplements to
his Journal he issued from week to week portions
of standard literature in lithographed shorthand,
so that in time subscribers became possessed of
complete volumes executed by the Inventor of
Phonography in the highest style of phonographic
penmanship, which were, with many thousands
of writers of the system, treasured possessions.
There were produced in this way by Isaac Pitman
the Holy Bible (1867), the Book of Common Prayer
(1869), Macaulay's Biographies (1868) also his
Essays (1870), Gulliver's Travels (1871), " Paradise
Lost " (1871), and a large number of other works,
among which were some written by an assistant
(Mr. J. R. Lloyd), who was at that time engaged
at the Phonetic Institute. Of other workers in
the same field the most prolific was Mr. James
Butterworth, of South Shields, who set up his own
lithographic press, and for many years produced
a vast number of books, and also monthly periodi-
cals. All the transfers were written by Mr.
Butterworth, and some of the periodicals were
edited by him, while Mr. Frederick Pitman was
the editor of others, the most popular of these
being the Shorthand Magazine, founded by Mr.
120
Macaulay's Biographies.
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FACSIMILE OF ISAAC PITMAN'S LITHOGRAPHED SHORTHAND
FROM THE 1870 EDITION OF MACAULAY'S BIOGRAPHIES
A SPOILED TRANSFER 171
F. Pitman in 1866, and edited by him until his
death.
The following anecdote associated with Isaac
Pitman's work as a transfer writer may be
appropriately quoted here : " One afternoon,
while busy as usual at his desk in a quiet corner
of his office, engaged in writing one of those
beautiful lithographic transfers which the earlier
generation of phonographers know so well, a
clumsy young clerk, in reaching for something
from a shelf above the already snow-white head
of Isaac Pitman, managed to knock down a book
from the shelf right upon the delicate work
beneath. That work was spoiled and had to be
done again. The only trace of annoyance observ-
able on the countenance of the veteran shorthand
writer was a momentary access of colour, which
passed off as rapidly as it came. Not one word
of anger or reproach was uttered, and this very
fact, no doubt, made the awkward young fellow
feel more repentant than he otherwise might have
been."
Since 1861 Isaac Pitman had permitted himself
certain relaxations from the Spartan discipline
he had followed in earlier years. He felt it con-
sistent with his duty to the Reform to leave his
desk at the Institute early in the evening, instead
of toiling on till a late hour, but as he continued
winter and summer to begin work at 6 a.m.,
his working day was still by no means a short one.
From the date above mentioned he also began
172 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
to take an annual holiday. It was in association
with one of these that he inserted a personal
explanation in the Journal, which is of some bio-
graphical note, as throwing light on his methods of
work at this period. Someone had written an
article entitled, " Objections to Phonotypy," and
he took a proof with him on his summer holiday
of a month at the seaside. To a notice accounting
for its non-publication, he added a further explana-
tion of the reason which led him to publish in the
shorthand portion of the Journal during 1867
a reproduction of a work once highly popular
among Evangelical Christians — " The Dairyman's
Daughter/' The issue had created some surprise,
Mr. Reed records, because hitherto religious works
reproduced in this way had usually been associated
with the Swedenborgian views of the Inventor of
Phonography.
When the time came for this holiday, Isaac
Pitman says, " We had been unable to get a single
day ahead with our lithographic labours for the
Journal. We therefore took our lithographing
tools with us, sat down at Sandown, in the Isle
of Wight, and in a month did seven of the Journal
transfers. This gave us an opportunity of taking
a fortnight's holiday, and yet have one transfer
ahead for the first week after our return to Bath.
During this fortnight's travelling about the island,
and enjoying its lovely scenery, there was no
disposition to entertain arguments for or against
Phonotypy. This little bit of personal history
brings us to ' The Dairyman's Daughter/
"THE DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER" 173
" Six of the seven transfers spoken of were the
last six of the ' Phonographic Vocabulary/ It was
necessary to do one more transfer before leaving
Sandown, to secure the punctual appearance of
the Journal. The question to be decided was,
What shall we take for the subject ? The ' Vicar
of Wakefield ' we considered too long for that
brief emergency. Had we been at home the
1 Reporter's Assistant/ now being issued, would
have been commenced ; but to do it away from
the Phonetic Institute was impossible. Being
in the very centre of the interesting spot where
the scene of Leigh Richmond's narrative is laid,
Sandown being only two miles from Brading,
his residence, two miles from Ashey Down, his
• lovely mount of observation/ and four miles
from Arreton, which contains the grave of Eliza-
beth Wallbridge ; and knowing how sincerely
a vast multitude cherished the kind of religious
sentiment (considered as distinct from life and
doctrine) which is embalmed in this book, we
though it would be a gratification to such of them
as read the Phonetic Journal to have the book in
shorthand. While admiring the author's piety,
and his tact in the composition of the work, we
inwardly protested, as we wrote, against many
of the sentiments. . . . We had a strong desire
in transcribing the book, to write a Supple-
mentary Note to it ... . but time, which
stays not in its course, hurried us on in our
ordinary sphere of duty. We trust this apology
will be accepted by those who have reasonable
objections to Leigh Richmond's book ; and as
for our Evangelical readers, they will thank
us for giving them this favourite book in
shorthand."
174 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
At this period public attention was called to a
phonetic system entitled " Visible Speech/' the
invention of Alexander Melville Bell (1819-1905),
the author of a shorthand system known as
" Steno-Phonography," which was noticed by
Isaac Pitman in no unfriendly spirit when it first
appeared in 1852, but which — although it had
the advantage of appearing in the early editions
of " Cassell's Popular Educator " under circum-
stances already described — did not secure any
considerable number of practitioners. In 1866
Mr. Bell read a paper on " Visible Speech " before
the Society of Arts. " No explanation/' Mr. Reed
says, " was given of the symbols employed by
Mr. Bell, who contented himself with explaining
the theory on which his alphabet was founded —
namely, the use of signs which pictorially repre-
sented the arrangement of the vocal organs required
to produce the various sounds of the language.
By this method it was stated that all possible
shades of elementary sounds could be accurately
represented. Isaac Pitman was naturally interested
in Mr. Bell's invention, and reprinted his paper
in the Phonetic Journal. He also offered to con-
tribute to the cost of casting types to illustrate
the new system, and invited Mr. Bell to make use
of the Journal as a means of illustrating and
promulgating his scheme. The offer was not
accepted. Mr. Bell desired a Government subsidy
before revealing the secret. This, however, was
not forthcoming ; and the author of the system
MELVILLE BELL 175
subsequently published it on his own account. It
was a much more ambitious attempt than Isaac
Pitman's, and was designed as a mode of expressing
every sound that could be uttered by the human
voice, and that by a comparatively small number
of symbols, having no resemblance whatever to
the letters of the ordinary alphabet. But it was
not at all adapted to the common purpose of read-
ing and writing, and no practical result followed
the publication/ '
When resident at Edinburgh Mr. Melville Bell
had associated himself with Isaac Pitman's work
as a member of the British Phonetic Council.
In later years he proceeded to Canada and subse-
quently to Washington, D.C. ; he was the joint
compiler with his brother of the well-known " Bell's
Standard Elocutionist/' and his son, Mr. Graham
Bell, was the inventor of the telephone.
In the early part of 1868 a summons of unusual
character reached Isaac Pitman, in the form of a
citation to appear as a witness for the Crown at
Edinburgh, at the trial of a well-known phono-
graphic lecturer on indictments charging him with
" falsehood, fraud, and wilful imposition " (anglice
" false pretences"). The case related to jewellery
and other property of about eight hundred pounds
in value. After a postponement, the trial was
fixed for 8th June, and in obedience to the citation
Isaac Pitman left Bath on the 4th, and reached
Edinburgh the following morning. " The time
being near our usual summer holiday," he writes,
176 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" we took wife and family [his two sons, Alfred, b.
1862, and Ernest, b. 1864] for the purpose of spend-
ing some time in Scotland after the trial. Our
appearance in the witness box was the first experi-
ence of this kind during a life of fifty-five years,
and we certainly felt, on being sworn, the religious
solemnity that should always accompany the
administration of an oath for furthering the ends
of justice." After two long wearisome days of
waiting " we were called, soon after the proceedings
commenced on the third day, to enter the court.
The sight was exceedingly impressive/ ' and he
proceeds to give a general description of the
interior of the Justiciary Court, and of the
solemn administration of the oath by the Lord
Justice-Clerk.
The testimony Isaac Pitman was called to give
related to the authorship of two letters in
Phonography, which purported to be written by
New York and Boston merchants respectively to
the accused as to his financial status. These the
Procurator- Fiscal sought to prove through the
evidence of Isaac Pitman, and of a member of the
Scotsman staff (Mr. Thomas Paul) to be forgeries
written by the accused. Isaac Pitman's testimony
is worthy of reproduction here, because it is the
first occasion on which a phonographic expert
gave evidence as such in a court of justice. He
was, he deposed, by profession a shorthand
author, and had been known as such for thirty-
one years. Through correspondence he had known
EXPERT EVIDENCE 177
the accused for twenty years. He had received
many letters from him, all in shorthand, except
the direction — " There was no necessity for long-
hand/' he continued, " the other being plainer.
Handwriting could be more easily and certainly
identified in shorthand than in longhand. In
longhand you have one shape for each letter
except y and s, but in our system of shorthand we
have five or six letters, each with two or three,
sometimes four shapes. This variety of shapes
for these few letters gives such a choice of what
we call consonantal outlines for words that almost
every writer has a style of his own, which can be
known by his choice of outlines. I am able to
distinguish shorthand writing with more certainty
than longhand.' ' From numerous communica-
tions from the individual who was undergoing his
trial, he had thoroughly familiarized himself with
his shorthand, and he affirmed positively that the
" New York " and " Boston " letters were in the
handwriting of the accused, and similar to the
entries in a diary found in his possession.
There was a long cross-examination on shorthand
details, conducted by the accused, because his
counsel were not acquainted with Phonography.
The curious fact was elicited that the " New York "
letter was written in the new style of Phonography,
while the " Boston " letter was written in the old
(or Ninth Edition). The point the accused sought
to establish apparently was that the last named
letter was written by one who had acquired what
W— (a«84)
178 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
was called the Graham system. " I am aware,"
Isaac Pitman said, M that a Mr. Graham has
adopted my system of Phonography in America
and called it his own." " Would it not be
extremely difficult/' he was asked, " for the same
hand to trace these letters in the different styles
without occasionally mistaking the styles ? "
41 Not at all," was the reply. As a matter of fact
vowels were very sparingly used in the two letters,
and there was no writing in position. Isaac
Pitman's opinions were strongly supported by
the independent evidence of Mr. Paul, and no
witnesses were called by the defence to refute
their testimony.
The trial, which evoked unusual interest in
Scotland, resulted in a conviction and sentence.
Great sympathy was felt for the innocent wife
and child of the convicted man. Isaac Pitman
actively interested himself on their behalf, and
collected through an appeal in his Journal a sum
of money for their immediate necessities, and in
later years took a kindly interest in their welfare.
Before he returned to Bath, the Inventor of
Phonography visited Manchester, and one of the
most successful phonographic meetings ever held
took place in the Manchester Town Hall on the
14th July, 1868. The weather was intensely hot,
but the attendance was very large, and Isaac
Pitman, who was accompanied by Mrs. Pitman,
was accorded a most enthusiastic reception.
Professor Greenbank was in the chair, and a
ISAAC PITMAN
(1868 age 55)
FRANCIS BARHAM 179
remarkable feature of the preliminary proceedings
was the reading by Mr. Henry Pitman — who had
organized the meeting — of letters from many
notable men expressing their appreciation of
Phonography and the Spelling Reform, including
one from the Rev. Dr. Parker (afterwards Pastor
of the City Temple), who wrote in shorthand that
he had practised Phonography for twenty years,
and could " honestly recommend its study to all
who wish to acquire a simple, philosophic, and
perfect system of shorthand/ ' The principal
resolution in favour of Phonography and the
Spelling Reform was moved by Dr. Pankhurst,
a well-known barrister, and embodied a cordial
Manchester greeting to Isaac Pitman, and a
recommendation to parents and teachers to place
the time-saving art within the reach of every boy
and girl under their authority. Isaac Pitman's
address was of an interesting autobiographical
character, and much of what he then said has been
quoted or otherwise embodied in the pages of this
Life. An able address was also delivered by Mr.
Edward Jones, head master of the Hibernian
Schools, Liverpool, and a prominent spelling
reformer. He was related to Isaac Pitman, whose
sister Melissa was Mr. Jones's first wife.
For about seventeen years there resided in
Bath a gentleman of good birth and education
named Francis Foster Barham (1808-1871), a
relative of the author of the " Ingoldsby Legends."
He had lived in London till his thirty-seventh
180 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
year, and had attempted to establish himself as a
solicitor there, but apparently with indifferent
success, due chiefly to his strong propensity for
literary pursuits and theological studies. On
leaving London he settled in Clifton, and when
forty-six and in failing health, he removed to
Bath, where he spent the remainder of his days.
During his residence in Bath a great friendship
sprung up between Mr. Barham and Isaac Pitman.
Mr. Barham was a most laborious and voluminous
writer on theological and ecclesiastical subjects,
but he is now remembered for his efforts to establish
a new, and as he conceived, more spiritual phase
of religion, under the title of Alism (or Godliness)
in association with which he published propa-
gandist literature, and styled himself " Alist
Francis Barham M — " that he might thus con-
stantly be reminded of the nearness of God."
During his declining years Mr. Barham produced
a " Rhymed Harmony of the Gospels/' and when
he died Isaac Pitman became his literary executor.
The Barham library was bequeathed to local
institutions, and was in due course distributed.
The literary remains of the deceased consisted of
a hundredweight of closely written manuscript
in the form of prose, verse, and dramatic composi-
tions. Isaac Pitman conceived it to be his duty
to his friend's memory that he should rescue
some portion of this great mass of literary matter
from oblivion. He devoted eight months to its
thorough examination, and selected from it such
SHORTHAND BIBLE 181
pieces as appeared most worthy of inclusion in
the projected volume. " A Memorial of Francis
Barham " made its first appearance serially in
1872, as a supplement to the Phonetic Journal.
It was the largest book ever issued in phonetic
spelling, being a closely printed crown 8vo work
of nearly five hundred pages. The " Rhymed
Harmony " of the Gospels and Barham's transla-
tions of the poetical books of the Bible had
appeared in the same fashion during 1870-1.
Much of Mr. Barham's work, and especially his
M Harmony," was edited by Isaac Pitman. His
friendship for the " Alist " and desire to honour
his memory led him to publish a good deal of
matter of doubtful value ; but as we have no
desire to do an injustice to Mr. Barham's memory,
it should be recorded here that in early life one
of bis dramas, entitled " Socrates/' was read and
spoken of with much admiration by Macready,
although the great tragedian considered that it
must remain " a dramatic poem and not be an
acted play."
A few other activities of Isaac Pitman in the
period covered by this chapter call for notice here.
In 1866 he lithographed the entire Bible in short-
hand, and it was issued serially as a supplement
presented to the purchasers of the Journal. A
second issue of the Bible in this form was begun,
and the New Testament having been completed,
the Old Testament was taken in hand and executed
as far as 2 Kings xviii. 25, when serial publication
182 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
was discontinued with the Phonetic Journal of
28th September, 1872. Probably through pres-
sure of other duties Isaac Pitman's hand at this
time seemed to have lost something of its cunning.
He therefore decided to suspend the task of
completing this edition of the Shorthand Bible
till a more convenient opportunity. For reasons
which will be related in due course, he was un-
fortunately never able to resume his labours in
the production of the exquisite lithographed
shorthand literature which had become justly
famous.
Towards the close of the sixties Isaac Pitman
waged a vigorous war against a custom which was
for many years his bete noire, namely, the paid
postal teaching of Phonography. The only kind
of postal tuition which the Inventor of Phono-
graphy would tolerate was that of a gratuitous
description, but someone had the temerity to
point out that the early editions of the " Penny
Plate " contained this legend : " Any persons
may receive lessons from the Author by post at Is.
each, to be paid in advance." Isaac Pitman's
reply was that soon after this announcement was
printed he crossed it out and substituted " gratu-
itously." For a long time, under this self-denying
ordinance, he laboured at the correction of all
phonographic exercises sent to him, till the work
was delegated to the Phonetic Society. But it
never seemed to strike him that the phonographic
teacher was doing nothing immoral in asking people
CERTIFICATE.
t3
I hereby certify thai
/
/ins a thorough knowledge of tut/ system of
^BMS&fi*
- >
PHONETIC 8HOEXHAID,
hid is a, qualified Teacher of (lie Art.
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/">
CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO MEMBERS OF THE PHONETIC
SOCIETY FROM ABOUT 1870 TO 1879
THE ENCYCLOPAEDIAS 183
who were perfectly well able to pay for his services
to remunerate him for his time and skill, in
exactly the same way as they would any other
expert teacher in the arts or sciences. It is
significant of the position which Phonography
had won for itself at this period, that arrange-
ments were made by the leading encyclopaedias
for fully exhibiting the system in their pages,
an enterprise in which Isaac Pitman gladly
co-operated.
XVII
SHORTHAND PRINTED FROM MOVABLE TYPE —
THE FOURTH INSTITUTE
1873-1875
From aD early time in the history of his shorthand
system Isaac Pitman had directed his attention
to the possibility of printing shorthand from
movable metal characters. Originally the phono-
graphic alphabet and the characters required for
the rules and illustrations had been produced for
the instruction books of the Ey&lm in the form of
woodcuts, but in 1847 it was found possible to
use metal type for this purpose, which was in
every respect preferable. A shorthand fount was
cast by Messrs. V. and J. Figgins, the London
type-founders, in which separate shorthand types
were produced for the consonants and vowels, of
which the following are specimens : —
For an outline containing several consonants the
:hiri::i: is tr.rri ti stTiri:.; :~ i rr.t:il
z.lt.s A erti: :. _r. rXT-i-r.zr.tn:: ""tre "ilt
by Isaac Pi~=z = r.i~ i: : t ?h:r.rn: Iz^r:r-:e
with a view to the employment of metal types by
which shorthand outlines could be built up, bat
it was found impracticable to adopt this method,
ENGRAVED SHORTHAND 185
except in the case of simple words with upright
or horizontal straight consonant forms, such as :
I eat, I- toe, a. ache, cow,
where two types, for a consonant and vowel
respectively, could be placed together to represent
a word. This method had, as we have indicated,
been in use for a quarter of a century, and no
development was now found possible on these
lines. But it was, as it had always been, practi-
cable to engrave each outline on a separate " blank "
of metal of a suitable width, and this method was
introduced in 1873 for the production of short-
hand reading matter. A story or a speech was
taken, and the words or phrases it contained were
engraved in shorthand on separate " blanks " of
metal. The characters were set up by the com-
positor like ordinary type, and punctuated with
the marks used in letterpress type of the same
size (pica). When the page had been stereotyped,
the shorthand type was available for resetting.
A number of wooden trays divided into com-
partments by strips of wood were obtained —
similar to the " cases " with " boxes " used by the
ordinary compositor in the printing office. In
these " cases " the outlines are distributed in a
similar style to the letterpress type, but with two
important distinctions. The " boxes " — which
are all of similar size — are labelled, dictionary
fashion, so that the shorthand outline for any
particular word or phrase can be readily found ;
186 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
and a shorthand " type " instead of being dropped
into its " box/' as in letterpress, is carefully placed
in its particular compartment with the face
upward, so that a word can be readily found among
twenty or more " cuts " in the same box, which
are allied to it in the common spelling. In setting
up every fresh story or speech in shorthand, words
are encountered for which no type is found in the
" cases." The forms for these words are engraved,
and in due course added to the existing stock.
This method of producing shorthand reading
matter from movable metal type characters,
which Isaac Pitman at this time initiated, is
absolutely unique.
v ~| -/
Key. — Who, that is much in the habit of writing, has not often wished
for some means of expressing by two or three dashes of the pen, that
which, as things are, it requires such an expenditure of time and labour
to commit to paper? Our present mode of communication must b« felt
to be cumbersome in the last degree ; unworthy of these days of inven-
tion ; we require some means of bringing the operations of the mind
and of the hand into closer correspondence. — English Review.
SPECIMEN OF PITMAN'S SHORTHAND (REPORTING STYLE)
PRINTED FROM METAL TYPE CHARACTERS
A CANARD 187
On the 4th January, 1873, appeared the first
number of a new series of the Phonetic Journal.
This was an important departure in connection
with that periodical, and one which to a very
remarkable extent promoted the cultivation of
Phonography in succeeding years. The price
was reduced from three pence to one penny, and
the small circulation of one thousand weekly was
speedily quadrupled, and as the years passed it
increased from twenty to thirty times the total
weekly circulation of the Journal prior to 1873.
Supplements in lithographed shorthand and
phpnotypy were discontinued, but shorthand read-
ing was provided in the shape of two pages of
matter every week, printed from engraved char-
acters by the method described above. As time
went on, more pages were devoted to the
weekly shorthand instalments, which became
an increasingly popular feature.
A singular rumour was rather prevalent in
phonographic circles in the early seventies, to the
effect that Isaac Pitman was not quite in his right
mind. The Inventor of Phonography made at
this time no appearances at phonographic gather-
ings ; the art no longer aroused enthusiasm for its
novelty, it had settled down into a business, and
the phonographic " festivals " and similar social
gatherings of earlier years had no successors. As
a consequence comparatively few of those of the
younger generation who employed the phono-
graphic art had come into personal contact with
188 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
its originator. Legends about Isaac Pitman's
untiring habits of work and simple life were freely
circulated, and it was thought that he was devoting
himself to the promotion of Spelling Reform with
a perseverance and an expenditure of his private
means that was considered Quixotic. But these
were unsubstantial grounds for the apocryphal
story about his mental state. One of those who
saw fit to disseminate this rumour rather exten-
sively— although he did not originate it — was the
Rev. William James Ball, B.A., of Harrogate,
a member of a well-known Irish family, and a
retired missionary of the Church Missionary
Society. Between 1869 and 1871 Isaac Pitman
and Mr. Ball were in frequent correspondence.
In his retirement Mr. Ball had taken up the study
and teaching of Phonography with much ardour,
and had developed some proposals of a compre-
hensive nature for what he considered to be
improvements in the system, which he had dis-
cussed at great length with its Inventor. This
had gone on for some years, until at last Mr. Ball
thought the time had arrived for the publication
from the Phonetic Institute of a treatise to be
entitled, " Ball's Standard Phonography." He
appears to have been, to use his own words,
" greatly pained " when he found that Isaac
Pitman had no intention of doing anything of the
kind, and he accused the latter of having " broken
faith " with him, and was especially aggrieved to
find his (Mr. Ball's) postal teaching very strongly
WILLIAM J. BALL 189
denounced. This seemed so extraordinary to
the ex-missionary that he wrote, " some of my
correspondents have come to the conclusion that
Mr. Pitman cannot be in his right mind."
In his phonographic work Mr. Ball succeeded in
securing the approval and support of a considerable
number of friends and pupils in all parts of the
United Kingdom, and on the 12th February,
1873, he was presented at Dr. Heigham's Harro-
gate College with a purse of gold and a handsome
timepiece as testimony to his valuable services
rendered to the cause of Phonography in pro-
moting " one style for all, and one style for ever."
A great deal was made of a letter of Isaac Pitman's
to Mr. Ball in 1869, in which, in the freedom of
friendly correspondence, he observed that Mr.
Ball's style of Phonography came to him with a
new freshness ; that he delighted in it like a person
who learned the system for the first time ; and
that Mr. Ball had fixed " the outlines of those
words which have been wandering about for years
on the face of the phonographic earth without a
home," and so forth. When invited to subscribe
to the testimonial, Isaac Pitman vigorously declined
to recognise Mr. Ball's " improvements," and on
being reminded that his correspondence had placed
him entirely in Mr. Ball's power, promptly replied
that he would himself publish the whole corre-
spondence in lithographed shorthand. But as
he was soon afterwards engaged in a project to
be described later in this chapter, the subject
190 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
ceased to be a burning one in a few months after
the presentation, and this intention was never
carried out.
Could Isaac Pitman have foreseen the use to
which his unstudied letters to Mr. Ball would have
been put, he would probably not have expressed
himself in such indiscreet terms about his corre-
spondent's efforts. In the advertisement columns
of the Journal the Harrogate phonographer's
proposals were discussed with considerable warmth
by various correspondents. Mr. Ball desired to
introduce some absolute rules for writing initial
and final / and r, and advocated position writing
to an extent which Isaac Pitman and the majority
of practical phonographers considered unnecessary.
The previously unused outline ^^ (upward r
and m) " some of us have adopted/' Isaac Pitman
wrote, through u Mr. Ball's phonographic percep-
tion," but the writing of that gentleman's own
name with b and downward / S Ball (as com-
pared with <\T in the text books) exhibited a
phonographic " principle " which, with some others,
Isaac Pitman affirmed he had " tried and found
wanting." Such " hard and fast " rules, had
they been adopted, might have proved seriously
detrimental to the practical usefulness of
Phonography.
The large top room in Parsonage Lane, Bath,
reached by " a dreary staircase of fifty steps,"
which had been occupied for eighteen years as
the Phonetic Institute, was at that time one of
PROPOSED NEW INSTITUTE 191
the most unsatisfactory places which could have
been found in the elegant city of Bath for the
labours of a man of Isaac Pitman's temperament,
to whom unsavoury and evil surroundings were
peculiarly repellant, while the place itself was
extremely uncomfortable, and unsuitable for a
Phonetic Institute. As his lease of these un-
desirable premises expired in 1873, Isaac Pitman
felt that the time was appropriate to carry into
effect his long cherished idea of building a national
institute to be devoted to the Phonetic Reform.
Accordingly, in the month of April, he laid
before phonographers a " Proposal for the
Building of a Phonetic Institute at Bath." The
opening paragraph of this appeal read as follows : —
" ' Phonography/ a new system of Shorthand,
based upon the sounds of the English language ; —
* Phonotypy/ a new style of printing words as
they are pronounced ; — and the place at Bath
where the phonetic books are produced, known
as the ' Phonetic Institute ' ; — are words familiar
to tens of thousands of people in every part of
the world where the English language is spoken.
The great value of Phonography in saving time
in writing, and the exceeding importance of
Phonotypy as an easy means of teaching children
to read ordinary books, are now widely acknow-
ledged. I propose to call the attention of Phono-
graphers and Spelling Reformers, and of all who
are interested in the education of the people, to
the inadequacy of the premises where the phonetic
books are produced."
192 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Following this came an account of the short-
comings of the existing Institute, with the observa-
tion that " the Phonetic Reform has now outgrown
the means of producing books which this wretched
place affords. " Only hand presses could be used
there, and machinery and steam power were now
necessary to produce the books demanded by the
public. There was the Journal , which since its
reduction in price had shown a healthy tendency
to rapidly increase its circulation, while of the
phonographic instruction books and books printed
entirely in shorthand, some 80,000, were now
sold every year, and the sale was constantly rising,
to say nothing of the Spelling Reform and its
demands on the limited capacities of the Institute.
It was Isaac Pitman's original idea to build an
Institute, and for this purpose a site was selected
on the Manvers Estate, and the appeal for funds
included a ground plan of this and an invitation
to any architect who sympathized with the
" Writing and Spelling Reform " to help it
forward by supplying a suitable design of the
proposed Institute. Embodied in the appeal
was a passage of autobiographical interest, the
statements contained in which have been often
quoted.
" I should not mention/' Isaac Pitman wrote,
" the following facts in my personal history in any
other connection than the present : they seem to
be appropriate here. From the year 1837, when
Phonography was invented, to the year 1843,
THE INCOME-TAX 193
when I gave up my private day school in order to
live for and by the Writing and Spelling Reform,
I occupied all my spare time before and after
school hours, in extending Phonography through
the post, and by travelling and lecturing during
the holidays. In this period I gained nothing
by my system of shorthand, but spent all the pro-
ceeds of my books in extending their circulation.
From 1843 to 1861, I laboured at the cause from
six o'clock in the morning till ten at night, and
literally never took a day's holiday, or felt that I
wanted one ; and I worked on till 1864 without
the assistance of a clerk or foreman. During this
period my income from the sale of phonetic books,
after paying the heavy expenses connected with
the perfecting and extension of ' Phonetic Printing/
did not exceed £80 per annum for the first ten
years, £100 for the next five years, and £150 for
the next three years. During the first of these
periods I was twice assessed for the income-tax.
I appealed, and proved that my income was under
£100. The commissioners appeared surprised that
I should carry on an extensive business for the
benefit of posterity. From 1861 to the present
time my income from Phonography has been
sufficient for the expenses of my increased family,
but not more. If phonographers think that this
labour, extending over the best part of a life, has
been productive of pleasure and profit to them,
and to the world at large, they have now an
opportunity of placing me in a position to carry on
the work of the Reading, Writing, and Spelling
Reform more effectually. That which is done
promptly is generally done well. Let us all
labour in the eye of the motto — The Future is
greater than the Past."
13— (aa84)
194 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Fourteen years before this an attempt had been
made to raise a thousand pounds to build a
Phonetic Institute, and in three years £350 was
raised and presented to Isaac Pitman, as already
recorded. The project was regarded as a " testi-
monial " to him, and he consequently took no
part in its promotion. By steering clear of the
ideal of a personal testimonial, and by the united
efforts of all working for the Reform, Isaac Pitman
expressed the confident belief that this attempt
to build a Phonetic Institute would not prove
a failure. Such was the personal influence of the
Inventor of Phonography, and so persuasive and
untiring were his efforts in a movement of this
description, that he was a host in himself ; he had,
moreover, at the Institute the needful equipment
for bringing the appeal under the notice of everyone
in the country who was likely to prove a helper.
The response to this appeal was immediate and
cheering. The amount collected in 1862 headed
the first subscription list, and was followed by a
contribution of £100 from Sir Walter C. Trevelyan,
and smaller amounts from over seventy other
contributors. From week to week additional
subscriptions, accompanied by encouraging letters,
flowed in, and the Rev. W. J. Ball wrote from
Harrogate expressing his high approval of the
project and his intention to do what he could
to promote it — a magnanimous utterance after
the recent controversy. Among those who took
an interest in the project was Mr. H. J. Palmer,
AN ACCIDENT 195
then unknown to fame, but destined in later
years to become a journalist of distinction as
the Editor of the Yorkshire Post. Mr. Palmer
had come to Bath for the first time in his life in
the Spring of this year, to visit the Inventor of
Phonography, and he found it hard to realize
that " the most universal system of stenography
extant " emanated from " a wretched top floor
tenement/ ' He afterwards read Isaac Pitman's
" Proposal " to remedy this state of affairs when
viewing the city from Beechen Cliff, and mentally
resolved to help. Words of cheer and additions
to the fund came later on from many well-known
people throughout the United Kingdom. Mr.
John Coltman, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who was
a zealous spelling reformer, contributed £100. In
India, Australia, and Canada, there were many
subscribers, and when the last list was published,
at the end of 1876, the total amounted to £1,326.
While the anxieties attendant on his endeavour
to secure new premises were pressing hardly upon
him in the early days of 1874, Isaac Pitman met
with an accident which kept him from his work
for ten weeks, five of which were spent in bed. It
was his habit to take a Turkish bath every week,
and on 28th February he burnt his right hand
and part of his body very severely while in the
hottest room. He made an excellent recovery,
but was much grieved at the unavoidable hindrance
to the completion of the transfer writing of the
Shorthand Bible, to which he had pledged himself.
196 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
From the pressure of other duties this work was
never again resumed.
For a time the question of a site for the proposed
Institute was a source of considerable anxiety
to Isaac Pitman, as negotiations in different
quarters proved ineffectual. Fourteen months
had passed since the fund was opened, when " a
ray of light and hope " dawned on him from an
unexpected quarter. An announcement was made
that Earl Manvers proposed to dispose of his
extensive property at Bath, and on 28th and 29th
May, 1874, there took place one of the largest sales
of property ever held in that city. The houses
were situated between the Abbey Church and the
Great Western Railway Station, and the sale
realized a total of something like £44,000. The
property included a number of large buildings
which formed part of the Abbey Churchyard,
occupied chiefly by important business concerns,
and Isaac Pitman purchased a block containing
two large houses known as Nos. 6 and 7 Kingston
Buildings, at the low price of £600. He was thus
provided with a structure in a suitable position,
which could be converted into a Phonetic Institute
without the heavy cost of building a new Institute,
which could not have been erected of the size
required under an outlay of £3,000.
Writing directly after the purchase of the houses,
Isaac Pitman said that, " By expending about £500
upon them, they may be made into a commodious
and beautiful Institute, or printing office, in the
THE FOURTH PHONETIC INSTITUTE, KINGSTON BUILDINGS,
ABBEY CHURCHYARD, BATH
FOURTH PHONETIC INSTITUTE 197
very heart of the city, in what may be called the
south side of the ' St. Paul's Churchyard ' of Bath.
The block of buildings, five storeys high, faces
the north, and has seven windows, at uniform
distances, on each floor. At present nine of them
are blocked up, — a reminiscence of the hateful
window-tax. No. 6 being a corner house, facing
Church street on the west, has also windows on
that side, and No. 7 is lighted both front and back.
. . . The extent of floor space in the new building
will be 1,000 ft. on each floor, giving a total of
5,000 ft. This is the space we proposed to obtain
in a new building 100 ft. long and 50 ft. broad. We
have arranged with the present tenants to take
possession at the end of this month (June). The
alterations, it is supposed, may be completed in
three months, and the next three months would
suffice to get the Institute into working order —
to place a boiler, engine, and printing machine
on the basement, and the different departments
of the business in the several rooms above, with
the necessary fixtures and furniture. Our friends
proposed not only to build a Phonetic Institute
for the promotion of the Writing and Printing
Reform, but also to put in it a small steam-
engine and a machine for printing the Phonetic
Journal, on which there is no profit that could be
appropriated to this purpose.' '
At the end of 1874 the premises in Kingston
Buildings, after being for six months in the hands
of the builders and carpenters, were in a sufficiently
advanced state of completion to admit of occupa-
tion as the fourth Phonetic Institute. The removal
of the printing plant and stock of books and paper
198 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
from the top room in Parsonage Lane to the new
premises in the Abbey Churchyard, though the dis-
tance was not great, was a laborious undertaking,
and the interference with Isaac Pitman's usual
orderly routine of answering innumerable corre-
spondents who wrote to him about the many
enterprises in which they were mutually interested
was considerable ; there is a touch of pathos in
his appeals to his many friends for their patience
with him under these distracting conditions.
" We have been compelled/' he wrote, " to leave
many letters unanswered, and they must remain
so until we get fairly at work in the new Institute."
But when, with his staff of eighteen workers, he
was in occupation for the first time of the building
which the generosity of the phonographic world
enabled him to call his own, all was not, alas,
plain sailing. His printing machinery propelled
by steam power led to protests from neighbours
on each side, and promised developments were
delayed by this cause, as will be gathered from the
following communication addressed to phono-
graphers by Isaac Pitman on the 8th May,
1875 :—
" The friends of Phonetic Spelling who see this
Journal have sympathized with us in our trials
for the past six months with respect to the labour
we have undergone, the great expense we have
incurred, and the annoyances to which we have
been subjected, in our attempt to introduce into
the Phonetic Institute a steam-engine and printing
TROUBLES WITH MACHINERY 199
machine. These troubles have arisen from two
sources, first the difficulty of getting our machine
to work at all, through our having been deceived
in the purchase of an engine and boiler that eventu-
ally proved not worth the cost of erection ; and,
secondly, after we had had a new boiler and engine
made, the machine was pronounced a * nuisance '
to our neighbours. We removed it to another part
of the building to pacify the neighbour on one side,
and then found that its sound could just be heard
by the neighbour on the other side, who is much
more exacting in his demands. . . . We shall
now have to print a Journal of eight pages at a
hand-press, as formerly, till something shall turn
up, either here or in some other premises, whereby
we can employ steam power, and it will not be
voted a legal nuisance. We regret to have to
say that it is utterly impossible for us to print
10,000 copies of this Journal, containing sixteen
pages, at a hand-press in the time in which it
must be produced. If the circulation should
suffer in consequence, we must bide our time till
we have the means of issuing sixteen pages. But
one, or at the utmost two, columns will be given
to advertisements, and these will be inserted
Times fashion, without ' display/ "
During these troubles, Mr. William Lewis,
proprietor of the Bath Herald, hospitably placed
his machines at Isaac Pitman's service, and thus
enabled him to print the Journal with compara-
tively little inconvenience till matters were put
right at the Institute.
There was considerable discussion during 1875
relative to the re-organization of the Phonetic
200 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Society, which was initiated by a pamphlet written
by Mr. J. C. Moor, a North of England phono-
grapher, who suggested a " constitution " which
in his opinion could assume a national character.
Many phonographers joined in the discussion,
including the Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer (second son
of the ninth Earl of Kintore), at that time an
undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, who
took an important part in shorthand affairs in later
years. He now advocated that " The Phonetic
Society should consist only of those who are
perfectly able and competent to assist others in
learning the art." Mr. Timothy M. Healy, destined
to become a famous Irish M.P., took a keen interest
in Phonography and the Spelling Reform, and also
in the re-organization of the Society. During this
year he visited Isaac Pitman at Bath, and for the
man and for his life work has ever since manifested
a cordial appreciation. The change in the constitu-
tion of the Phonetic Society effected as the result
of a prolonged discussion was slight, but useful
so far as it wrent. The number of classes of
members was reduced from four to two, the
" learners' class " and the class for those who
approved of but did not write Phonography being
abolished. For the future the classes for members
were as under : —
" Class 1. Members who write Phonetic Short-
hand, and engage to correct the Exercises of
Students through the post gratuitously."
&& Jl£va£6. thkfUk
'H,
P ctn
^ ^ <^ v w- \^ ^ j_0 N j
/ '. ^ V- <^% ^ v, v v-% L i, Vv'^ f^~-)^
^ ^ — j^ ^-ir ^ .ift( y^y
^-^ -\ v, v . 1 i. y>.
> ^ ^.. ^ Uo - v G>t y "^ N } ^-^r^ - v ]• x ' ^ .> v ^-v^ -^
^JD
c_
^i3
v /l
•**; -y, >ou-.^x^
FACSIMILE OF ISAAC PITMAN 'S LITHOGRAPHED LETTER TO
MEMBERS OF THE PHONETIC SOCIETY
THE PHONETIC SOCIETY 201
" Class 2. Members who write Phonetic Short-
hand, but are prevented by their other engage-
ments from correcting exercises through the
post."
Each candidate had to submit a specimen of
Phonography attested as his own unaided work,
and the card of membership issued to those who
were admitted now testified that they were
qualified as teachers of Phonography.
XVIII
MAX-MULLER AND THE SPELLING REFORM —
A PROPOSED ROYAL COMMISSION
1876-1879
The year 1876 was with Isaac Pitman a time of
many activities and interests, and vigorous effort
in various directions. His special work for Phono-
graphy consisted in the production of a new
edition (the fourth) of the " Phonetic Shorthand
Dictionary/' which was now for the first time
produced with the phonographic characters
engraved in metal. Each character had at its
side the longhand spelling of the word, with the
pronunciation in phonotypy in parenthesis, accom-
panied by the meaning in ordinary longhand.
The three earlier editions were lithographed, and
this useful work had been for considerable periods
" out of print " ; phonographers therefore wel-
comed the new form, which admitted of further
impressions being made from the type as required.
Isaac Pitman had contemplated the publication
of a small dictionary by the engraved method
seven years before, in connection with which an
attempt was made to produce certain outlines
in accordance with the Rev. W. J. Ball's ideas
for writing final r and initial and final I. But it
was found that awkward outlines were the result,
and as a consequence the enterprise was given up.
SPELLING BEES 203
What this style of writing was like may be seen in
the earlier portion of " Macaulay's Essays,"
lithographed by Isaac Pitman and published in
1870 ; the outlines were not, he declared, " to be
depended on." In this year appeared the first
adaptation of Phonography to the Welsh language,
the work of the Rev. R. H. Morgan, M.A.
(1852-1899), a minister of the Welsh Calvinistic
Methodist body. The Inventor of Phonography
actively co-operated, and the work was produced
under his supervision at the Phonetic Institute,
and published at Wrexham.
Amid the labours of this year Isaac Pitman
found diversion in attending some of the " Spelling
Bees " which were a popular form of public
literary competition at this time. Spelling con-
tests had not been unknown in England long
before 1875, but in that year some ingenious
American hit on the phrase " Spelling Bee," a
designation which created for the competitions a
wide popularity for some years on both sides of
the Atlantic. As directing attention to the incon-
sistencies of English spelling, and thus indirectly
helping forward the movement for orthographic
reform, Isaac Pitman welcomed the " Bees," and
published in his Journal during 1876 annotated
reports of some of the more interesting of these
events.
There was a meeting of supporters of the
Reading, Writing, and Spelling Reform held at
Manchester on 26th October, 1876, for the purpose
204 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of hearing from Isaac Pitman a statement of its
condition and prospects. The chair was taken by
Dr. Samuel Crompton, an old Spelling Reformer,
and the author of a work entitled " Medical
Reporting, or Case-taking/' published in 1847,
which enjoyed the distinction of being the second
work printed in phonotypy. The principal resolu-
tion was proposed by Mr. John Eglington Bailey,
F.S.A., a well-known phonographer and an able
writer on shorthand history, and was seconded by
Mr. J. A. Parker, who had been shorthand writer
to the Supreme Court of Judicature of India.
Mr. Parker had recollections of the early days of
the Reform, and of Isaac Pitman's work in Bath.
He testified from what he had seen of his efforts,
" from earliest dawn of light to the time when the
stars were shining " in the perfection of the
phonetic printing alphabet and the dissemination
of Phonography. This work he found was being
carried on with the same unconquerable applica-
tion at that time as when he first became
acquainted with the Inventor of Phonography
twenty-two years before.
Isaac Pitman in his speech in reply mentioned
incidentally the objects for which he had visited
Manchester, namely, in support of the anti-tobacco
movement and vegetarianism respectively. When
the friends of Spelling Reform heard of his con-
templated visit, they thought the occasion a
favourable one for hearing from his lips an account
of the Reform and its present prospects. One
"FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW" 205
characteristic passage of his speech deserves
quotation. Someone had talked, he said, of
obstacles and difficulties : "I really have not
seen or felt any. I have done nothing from the
beginning but simply pursued my course of work
for a right, true, and good idea. I have paid no
attention to opponents, except, occasionally, to
meet their objections as well as I could. I have
not felt any opposing powers at work against me,
except the dead weight of a long-established
custom, but have gone on promulgating the truths
and the uses of phonetic shorthand in the first
instance ; and after seven years of this kind of
labour . . . phonetic printing was commenced."
At the date of this meeting propagandist work
had assumed great dimensions, and the total
output of printed matter from the new Phonetic
Institute was half a ton per week. Ror the
production and wide circulation of Spelling Reform
tracts, Mr. John Coltman, of Newcastle-on-Tyne,
at this time gave a sum of £300.
It was a source of extreme gratification to Isaac
Pitman when the Fortnightly Review appeared for
April, 1876, with an article by Professor Max-
Miiller on the Spelling Reform. " This remark-
able paper," he rightly anticipated, would " make
a sensation in the literary world, which is wont to
look upon the Spelling Reform as the most
Quixotic of all the professed reforms of the day.
In his attack on the old spelling, with its absurdi-
ties and its evil effects, and in his defence of true
206 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
or phonetic spelling, Max-Mtiller goes to work like
a Teuton." This is absolutely true; and the
utterance of the great philologist remains the most
striking statement of the case for Spelling Reform
which has appeared in the English language.
Max-Miiller wrote : " What I like in Mr. Pitman's
system of spelling is exactly what I know has
been found fault with by others, namely, that
he does not attempt to refine too much, and
to express in writing those endless shades of
pronunciation, which may be of the greatest
interest to the student of acoustics, or of phonetics,
as applied to the study of living dialects, but which,
for practical as well as for scientific philological
purposes, must be entirely ignored. Writing was
never intended to photograph spoken languages :
it was meant to indicate, not to paint, sounds. If
Voltaire says, ' L'ecriture c'est la peinture de la
voix,' he is right \ but when he goes on to say,
1 plus elle est ressemblante, meilleur elle est/ I am
not certain that, as in a picture of a landscape, so
in a picture of the voice, pre-Raphaelite minute-
ness may not destroy the very object of the picture.
Language deals in broad colours, and writing ought
to follow the example of language, which, though
it allows an endless variety of pronunciation,
restricts itself for its own purpose, for the purpose
of expressing thought in all its modifications, to a
very limited number of typical vowels and con-
sonants. Out of the large number of sounds, for
instance, which have been catalogued from the
various English dialects, those only can be recog-
nized as constituent elements of the language
which in, and by, their difference from each other
convey a difference of meaning. Of such pregnant
SPELLING REFORM INEVITABLE 207
and thought-conveying vowels, English possesses
no more than twelve. Whatever the minor shades
of vowel sounds in English dialects may be, they
do not enrich the language, as such ; that is, they
do not enable the speaker to convey more minute
shades of thought than the twelve typical single
vowels. . . ."
" The real state of the case is this : No one
defends the present system of spelling ; everyone
admits the serious injury which it inflicts on
national education. Everybody admits the prac-
tical advantages of phonetic spelling, but
after that all exclaim that a reform of spelling,
whether partial or complete, is impossible.
Whether it is impossible or not, I gladly leave to
men of the world to decide. As a scholar, as a
student of the history of language, I simply
maintain that in every written language a reform
of spelling is, sooner or later, inevitable. No
doubt the evil day may be put off. I have little
doubt that it will be put off for many generations,
and that a real reform will probably not be carried
except concurrently with a violent social con-
vulsion. Only let the question be argued fairly.
Let facts have some weight, and let it not be
supposed by men of the world that those who
defend the principles of the Phonetic News are only
teetotallers and vegetarians, who have never
learned how to spell. If I have spoken strongly in
support of Mr. Pitman's system, it is not because
on all points I consider it superior to the systems
prepared by other reformers, particularly by
Messrs. Ellis and Jones, who have devised schemes
of phonetic spelling that dispense with any new
types ; but chiefly because it has been tested so
largely, and has stood the test well."
208
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
THE PHONETIC ALPHABET.
The phonetic letters in the first column arc pronounced
like the italic letters in the words that follow. The last
column contains the names of the letters.
CONSONANTS.
Eocplo dents.
P p rojoe pee
B b rooe....bee
T t fa/e tee
D d ....fade dee
© c, ....etch ...ch&y
J j *dge jay
K k ...lee£ kay
G g ....lea^cgay
Continuants.
F f sa/e ef
V v.. ..save vee
R l...breaM.. ith
3 d...breaMe..tkee
S s....hiss ess
Z z....his zee
2 J vicious... ish
X 3 vision., zhee
Nasals.
M m...seem ... em
N n..,seett en
TJ rj...siw0 ing
Diphthongs : ei,
as heard in by,
Liquids.
L l....fa// el
R r....rare ar
Coalescents,
W w....wet way
Y y...-2/et yay
Aspirate.
H h...^ay... aitch
VOWELS.
Lingual*
A a cm, far.. at
H b alms.... ah
E e ell,feru..et
£ c «le,cir..eh
I i ill it
if \. ee\,fear..ee
Labial.
O o on, or...ot
O o all aw
3" y wp, cwr..ut
O & ope,ore..oh
U u foil 66t
IX u... food, poor. .06
ou, ill, ai, oi.
now, new, ay (yes), boy.
With the above alphabet Max-Muller de-
clared that English could be " written rationally
FUNCTION OF ORTHOGRAPHY 209
and read easily/ ' The passage from Max-
Miiller's article on pp. 206-7 is reproduced
below in phonotypy in accordance with^the
alphabet.
Whot ei leik in Mr Pitman'z sistem ov spelirj iz ek-
zaktli whot ei no haz bjn found folt wid bei sderz, nemli,
dat h\ dsz not atempt tu refein tu myg, and tu ekspres
in reitirj derz cndles Jedz ov pronsnsiejon, whig me bj ov
de gretest interest tu de stiudent ov akoustiks, or ov
femetiks, az apleid tu de stydi ov livirj deialekts, byt
whig, for praktikal az wel az for seientink filolojikal
pyrposez~ myst bj enteirli igncrrd. Reitirj woz never
intended tu fertograf spoken larjgwej ez : it woz ment tu
indiket, not tu pent, soundz. If Voltaire sez, " L'ecri-
ture c'est la peinture de la voix," hj iz reit ; bst when
h\ goz on tu se, "plus elle est ressemblante, meilleur
elle est," ei am not serten dat, az in a piktiur ov a land-
skep, so* in a piktiur ov de vois, prj-llfiftleit miniutnes
me not destroi de veri objekt ov de piktiur. Larjgwej
djlz in brod kslorz, and reitirj ot tu foler de ekzampel ov
larjgwej, whig do* it alouz an endles vareieti ov pronsn-
sie/on, restrikts itself for its on psrpos, for de psrpos ov
ekspresirj 3ot in ol its modifikejonz, tu a veri limited
number ov tipikal vouelz and konsonants. Out ov de
larj number ov soundz, for instans, whig hav bjn kata-
logd from de veriss IngliJ" deialekts, derz ernli kan bj
rekogneizd az konstitiuent elements ov de larjgwej whig
in, and bei, der diferens from jg sderkonve a diferensov
mjnirj. Ov ss-g pregnant and tfot-konveirj vouelz, Irjgli/
pozesez no mor dan twelv. Whotever de meinor Jedz
ov vouel soundz in Irjgli/ deialekts me bj, de du_ not en-
rig de larjgwej, az ssg, dat iz, de dq, not eneber de spjker
tu konve merr miniiit Jedz ov lot dan de twelv tipikal
sirjgel vouelz.
i4-(2a84)
210 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Max-Miiller's paper was re-printed by Isaac
Pitman with some additional matter incorporated
by its author, including an account of Mr. Jones's
project for improving the existing orthography
without the addition of new letters to the alphabet.
His only doubt about this scheme, Max-Miiller
said, was whether " a small measure of reform
would be carried more easily than a complete
reform." He also directed attention to Dr. J. W.
Martin's narrative of the successful experiments
in teaching reading by phonetic books carried out
under the doctor's supervision in the Infant
National School of Portlaw, co. Waterford. Mr.
Ellis's system, referred to by Max-Miiller, was a
method of using the letters of the common
alphabet, which the inventor thus described :
" My Glossic was invented for the purpose of
writing all our dialects in one alphabet." It was
not primarily an educational instrument.
Within a few months of the publication of Max-
Miiller's article, the Spelling Reform question was
brought before the country in a fashion which
afforded Isaac Pitman reasonable grounds for
anticipating that at last his unwearied labours
were to be rewarded ; that at least an inquiry
would be made by the Government of the day
into the practicability of improving English
orthography. But unfortunately there are three
great obstacles to reform. One of these is the fact
that there is no official body whose function it is
to make those improvements in the English
SCHOOL BOARDS AND SPELLING 211
language and its representation which the lapse
of time demands. The second obstacle is the
great diversity of projects for improving our
spelling which are put forward by reformers, who
have never agreed on any single scheme. Isaac
Pitman, however, in spite of the approval of Max-
Muller of full phonotypy, was not so wedded to
his own scheme but that he was prepared to agree to
an instalment of reform from whatever quarter it
came, and he showed his sincerity by exhibiting in
his Journal methods devised by himself and others
for improving English spelling with the minimum
of change in the shape of new letters, or, in fact,
without new letters at all. The third obstacle to
reform is the immense dead weight of vested
interest opposition, from the Universities down-
ward, and on the part of all engaged in the pro-
duction or sale of periodicals and books. In asso-
ciation with the occurrences described below, Isaac
Pitman on 1st January, 1877, addressed a mani-
festo on the Spelling question to all the School
Boards in England and Wales. The episodes of
this period mark the zenith of the Spelling Reform
movement in England ; Mr. Reed was a partici-
pator in and the historian of them, and has ably
summarized what then took place in the following
passages : —
1 In the London School Board a movement was
inaugurated by Dr. Gladstone, Dr. Angus, and
other spelling reformers. Great dissatisfaction
had been expressed at the results obtained in
212 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Board Schools in regard to the teaching of reading
and spelling, and attention was directed to the
subject at various meetings of the Board. A
proposal was made for a memorial to the Govern-
ment requesting the appointment of a Royal
Commission, and a circular was sent to the School
Boards throughout the country requesting their
opinion as to the propriety of such a step. The
majority of the 277 Boards appealed to were
against the proposal, but 100 were in its favour —
a remarkable evidence of the extent to which the
Spelling Reform had gained adherents among the
educationists of the country. Notwithstanding
the adverse replies of the majority of the country
School Boards, the London School Board, on the
14th March, 1877, passed a resolution, proposed
by Dr. Gladstone, for the nomination of a Select
Committee to draw up a memorial for the appoint-
ment of a Royal Commission. The Committee
met in due course, and drew up a memorial, which
was adopted at a meeting of the School Board on
the 25th of July. In this memorial it was recom-
mended that the Government should be moved to
issue a Royal Commission for considering the best
method of reforming and simplifying English spell-
ing. It was urged that the results of primary
education in England and Wales were far from
being satisfactory, and that several of Her
Majesty's Inspectors had attributed this poor
success in a great measure to the difficulties caused
by our present unsystematic spelling. Many
eminent scholars, many of the leading philologists
of England and America, and the National Union
of Elementary Teachers, had all affirmed the
necessity of some change. Italy and some other
countries had long had very simple systems of
SPELLING REFORM CONFERENCE 213
spelling ; and others, such as Holland and Spain,
had recently effected great reforms. In Germany
the report of a conference on spelling reform, con-
vened by Dr. Falk, the Minister of Public Instruc-
tion in Prussia, was being circulated. The time,
therefore, seemed to have come for inquiry whether
something could not be done in the same direction
for English-speaking children. This memorial
was signed by J. H. Gladstone, Chairman of the
Committee, Joseph Angus, and John Rodgers.
" In the same year, 1877, an important Confer-
ence was held at the Rooms of the Society of Arts,
London, on the 29th May, on the subject of Spelling
Reform, the Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of
Philology, Oxford, presiding. The primary object
of the Conference was to support the request of
the London School Board for the appointment of
a Royal Commission to inquire into the subject of
English Spelling. It was stated by Mr. Edward
Jones, the hon. secretary, that the idea of such a
Commission had been mooted ten years previously
by Mr. Russell Martineau, at a meeting of the
Philological Society, and had been supported by
the Rev. J. Rice Byrne, M.A., one of Her
Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, and that from
that time the idea had gained general acceptance
with the Society of Arts and other educational
institutions. Among the letters read at the
Conference was one from the Right Hon. Robert
Lowe, which appeared to be a reply to a question
put by Max-Mxiller — ' Is there no statesman in
England sufficiently proof against ridicule to call
the attention of Parliament to what is a growing
national misfortune ? ' ' I am not afraid of
ridicule/ said Mr. Lowe, ' and I have a strong
opinion on the spelling question. . . . There are,
214 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
I am informed, 39 [40] sounds in the English
language. There are 24 letters. I think that
each letter should represent one sound, that 15
[16] new letters should be added, so that there be
a letter for every sound, and that every one
should write as he speaks.' The Bishop of
Exeter also wrote expressing sympathy with
the movement, but suggesting that there should
be a minimum of change with no new characters,
and only the introduction of a few diacritical
marks.' '
One of the earliest speakers at the Conference
was Isaac Pitman, who began his remarks by
observing : " Nothing that can occur this day
can possibly afford me more gratification than the
letter of Mr. Lowe, which our Hon. Secretary has
just read. I feared there was not a man among
the 650 members of the House of Commons that
would lead us on to victory ; but Mr. Lowe is the
man ; and without meaning any disrespect to
Bishop Temple, I must say that Mr. Lowe's letter,
when weighed against the letter of the Bishop of
Exeter, makes the latter kick the beam instantly.
You will observe that there are two distinct
opinions expressed in those letters. The Bishop
of Exeter says : ' Introduce no new letters, but use
diacritic marks : ' we should wTant fifteen marked
letters. I will venture to say that the Bishop has
never written a single page with the diacritic
marks which he thinks might do. Mr. Lowe, on
the other hand, takes the common-sense view of
the question, and says that as there are fifteen
SPELLING AND LOSS OF TIME 215
sounds without representative signs, they must
have them as a matter of course. I shall not say
a single word on behalf of any particular alphabet
— the question of signs for the sounds is tabooed
for the day. All that we have to do to-day is to
state our case — to show the reason for the Spelling
Reform movement, and back up the London School
Board in their application to Government for a
Royal Commission of inquiry ; and I certainly
think that our Government will be unable to
refuse the application/'
The particular topic on which Isaac Pitman was
invited to speak for ten minutes was " The loss
of time caused by the current spelling/' and he
proceeded to show with abundant illustrations,
for which he was never at a loss in his public
addresses, that time was wasted in learning to
read, to spell, and to write. Other speakers at
the meeting included Sir Charles Reed (the Chair-
man of the London School Board) ; Dr. Glad-
stone ; Signor Tito Pagliardini (an Italian scholar
who with pen and voice advocated English spelling
reform) ; the Rev. John Curwen (of Tonic Sol-fa
fame) ; and Mr. William Storr (of The Times
reporting staff, an old phonographer and friend of
the inventor of the art, and a strong spelling
reformer).
" These were not (to again quote Mr. Reed) the
only public proceedings in connection with the
Spelling Reform movement in 1877 ; for at a
meeting of the Social Science Association, held in
216 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
London, on the 5th February that year, papers
on the subject were read by Mr. E. Jones and Mr.
W. Storr. These proceedings were reported at
considerable length in the newspapers of the day,
and many leaders and magazine articles were de-
voted to the subject. Many of the leading news-
papers spoke favourably of the movement, and
even The Times went so far as to recommend that
children should be, at any rate, taught to read
and write in the first three standards on ' the easy
phonetic plan/
" It was not until early in the following year,
1878, that the Spelling Reform question in con-
nection with Board School teaching was brought
before the Government. On the 18th of January,
the Lord President of the Council (the Duke of
Richmond and Gordon) and Viscount Sandon
received a deputation at the Privy Council from
the London and many other School Boards,
and another from the Society of Arts. The depu-
tations consisted of about a hundred gentlemen
from different parts of the country, and represent-
ing various educational bodies. Mr. Pitman, his
brother Frederick, Mr. Ellis, Sir Charles Reed,
Dr. Gladstone, Mr. Rathbone, M.P. (representing
the School Board), and Mr. Richard, M.P. (who
expressed the bewilderment of the Welsh people
on the subject of English spelling) were among the
company present. The various speakers were
listened to with great attention, and the Lord
President promised, in the stereotyped form, but
with great courtesy, that he would lay before the
Cabinet the views that had been communicated
to him. Nothing further came of the matter.
No Royal Commission was appointed ; but the
subject had been thoroughly ventilated, and a
SPELLING REFORM ASSOCIATION 217
great deal done to clear the ground for future
action in the same direction. •
" The presentation of the memorial to the Lord
President was soon followed (in 1879) by the
formation of the Spelling Reform Association in
London, under auspices which seemed to promise
a successful result. Mr. Pitman, of course, joined
its ranks, and occasionally assisted in its delibera-
tions. Among the other well-known men who
allied themselves with the Society were Lord
Tennyson, Professor Max-Muller, Professor Sayce,
Dr. J. H. Gladstone, Mr. A. J. Ellis, Charles
Darwin, Dr. R. G. Latham, Professor Skeat, Mr.
Westlake, Q.C., Dr. Charles Mackay, Professor
Candy, M.A., Rev. John Rodgers, Dr. Hunter, etc.
" It is not necessary to write the history of the
Spelling Reform Association in connection with
the biography of Isaac Pitman ; but it cannot be
passed over. Its career, which promised to be a
brilliant one, was short and unsatisfactory.
During the first year or two of its existence it was
the means of drawing a good deal of attention to
the question of a reformed orthography. It
published a number of pamphlets and leaflets, and
held a few public meetings at which addresses
were delivered by men of great distinction. But
its efforts were a good deal frittered away in
academic discussions on the minutiae of Phonetics,
instead of being directed to more practical work.
As in the case of most reforms, great differences of
opinion existed as to the precise manner in which
phonetic spelling should be carried out ; and
notwithstanding the appointment of endless sub-
committees with the view of reconciling these
differences, no definite line of action was taken ;
and, after a few years of fitful and spasmodic
218 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
effort, the Association collapsed. Though several
attempts were made to galvanize it into renewed
activity they were wholly unsuccessful."
The appearance of a letter in The Times over
the signature of Eizak Pitman, dated from the
" Fonetik Institiut, Bath/' and spelled " fonetik-
ali " as was, he explained, his custom, led to some
facetious observations in Punch of 15th February,
1879, which remarked of the letter that —
It is mainly a commendation of Vegetarianism and Teetotal-
ism, which he, being now " siksti-feiv yeerz of aij," has
practised for the last forty years. He testifies that : —
" Theez forti yearz have been spent in kontineus laibor in
konekshon with the invenshon and propagashon ov mei sistem
ov fonetik shorthand and fonetik spelling, korrespondens, and
the editoarial deutiz ov mei weekli jurnal."
His " weekli jurnal " is of course the Fonetik Nuz, still alive
and kicking, as the People say — kicking against etymology and
common sense. Its longevity seems even more wonderful than
its editor's survival of his " forti yeerz " regimen to the " aij "
of " siksti-feiv." His circulation has been maintained on that
regimen, but what can have supported that of his paper ?
Spelling Bees have for some time dropped out of vogue, or
else a " Fonetik " Spelling Bee might answer Mr. Pitman's
purpose of propagating his peculiar orthography. He would
not, of course, be deterred from that expedient by any remark
which might po ssibly be made that he had a Spelling Bee in his
bonnet.
Punch seemed oblivious of the many things
which had happened in association with phonetic
spelling since Mr. Ellis's periodical appeared for the
last time thirty years before ; and that the widely
circulated Phonetic Journal should have so entirely
" PUNCH u AND SPELLING REFORM 219
escaped its notice was certainly remarkable. Isaac
Pitman's brief comment on Punch's humour was
as follows : " On the publication of this article, a
AN EVERGREEN VEGETARIAN
(Reproduced by special permission of the Proprietors of
11 Punch.")
friend of the Spelling Reform sent a copy of the
Phonetic Journal to the editor of Punch, with the
sensible recommendation that he should keep
abreast of the times/ '
220 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Through the death of Sir Walter C. Trevelyan
in 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-two, Isaac
Pitman lost a friend who had with singular
disinterestedness given valued support at a time
when the Reform movement most needed it, and
who had been for twenty years the President of
the Phonetic Society. Professor Max-Miiller was
invited to fill the position rendered vacant by
the death of Sir Walter, and readily consented
to do so. At this time a slight change was made
in the constitution of the Society, and the state-
ment that members were qualified to teach was
removed from the certificate of membership.
Isaac Pitman paid a visit to Oxford as the guest
of Professor Max-Miiller in 1876, and was keenly
interested in all that his host showed him of the
ancient University.
The four hundredth anniversary of the intro-
duction of printing into England by William
Caxton was marked by an exhibition at South
Kensington in the summer of 1877, to which Isaac
Pitman obtained permission to send phonotypic
literature for distribution, and as this included an
illustrated life of Caxton in reformed spelling,
there was a considerable demand for the novelty.
In this year also he received a visit at Bath from
Professor J. D. Everitt, of Queen's College, Belfast,
who had invented a system of shorthand in the
early fifties, first circulated privately and in 1877
published in the ordinary way.
At this time Isaac Pitman made a change in his
X
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X
Q
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O
X
X
w
H
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Q
O
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w
N
HAZELWOOD 221
residence. After living in various parts of Bath,
since leaving Lansdown Terrace in 1858, he had
for a considerable time made his home at No. 3
Darlington Place, Bathwick. Not far distant
from this, he, in 1879, built a house in the War-
minster Road. He named his residence after the
school conducted by Sir Rowland Hill, and his
father, Mr. T. Wright Hill, near Birmingham,
known as Hazelwood. Writing on the subject of
his new abode Isaac Pitman observed : " The
situation gives one of the finest views in this
beautiful part of Somersetshire. There is seen at
a glance a large portion of Bath, built on the side
of a hill, a stretch of hilly country in front, with a
valley in the centre, and the river Avon, the
Kennet and Avon Canal, and the Great Western
Railway, running up another valley to the right,
that of the Avon. The city portion, when lighted
at night, has the effect of a grand illumination.
The name ' Hazelwood ' was chosen to perpetuate
the memory of the fact that the profits of Phono-
graphy furnished the means of building it, and
that Sir Rowland Hill's ' Penny Post ' made
Phonography popular. , To make the name some-
what appropriate, a row of hazel trees has been
planted by the garden wall on the left side of the
house/ '
XIX
MANY SCHEMES OF SPELLING REFORM AND " THREE
RULES'' — PUBLIC APPEARANCES — ACTION IN THE
HIGH COURT — AMEN CORNER
1880-1886
In the early eighties the spelling reformer was
very much abroad. Nearly every reformer who
addressed the public had his own particular scheme
for supplanting the existing spelling, and was
firmly convinced of its superiority to all others.
There were fifty orthographic schemes under the
consideration of the English Spelling Reform
Association, and in 1880 Isaac Pitman published
specimens of twenty-seven of these which he was
able to exhibit with his available type. Nothing
could have shown more clearly that while the
reformers were attacking a common foe, each was
armed with a different weapon. This idea was
cleverly expressed in a poetical parody (annotated)
which attracted a good deal of attention at this
time, and was read with amusement by all
interested in Spelling Reform. It ran as follows : —
GRAPHOPHONOMACHIA :
The Battle of the Signs and Sounds
In deep recesses of a sunless vale
Hides a huge monster, miscall'd Orthograph,
(But Malefido is his rightful name)
Horrid, inform, unsighted. Many a peer,
222
GRAPHOPHONOMACHIA 223
Who sits, where Archibald I is King, supreme,
At that round table nigh the Strand, i' th' Court
Where all his Knights assemble, oft has urged
Against the giant's force a mad career
And come back worsted home. For mighty spells,
Coin'd in the gloom of wizard gramarye,
Guard the abysmal cavern where he bides.
Weapons twiform'd, and things that change their shape,
While gazers stand aghast with wonderment,
Are hurl'd against the rash invading foes,
Who seek to pierce the dark Cimmerian mist,
Where Malefido hides him : and behind
Briarean Custom stretches polyp arms
To hurl the enemy back. Yet none the less
The crippled monster bleeds at many a wound.
First patriarchal Isaac 2 smote him hard
With missiles forged in shapes unknown to men,
Like the weird talismans in Egypt found,
Graven uncouth, or those mysterious signs
On Babel's arrow-headed cylinders.
But ere brave Isaac pierced the giant's cave
To thrust him to the heart, a digraph-shower
As thick as Vallombrosa's autumn leaves
Hurl'd him back breathless. Then his puissant peer,
Strong Alexander3 seized, the two-fork'd forms,
Gather'd them, shaped them, polish'd them anew,
And with his own darts smote the giant down.
Again uprising, Malefido urged
Myriads of Mutes to beat the invader back
With soundless death. So Alexander fail'd.
Next a Welsh Knight 4 devised a magic charm,
To lead the Mutes by many a devious path,
1 Archibald H. Sayce, President of the Spelling Reform
Association.
2 Isaac Pitman, originator of the Spelling Reform.
3 Alexander J. Ellis, contriver of a Glossic, Digraph system.
4 E. Jones, advocate of the use of e as modifier to indicate
long vowels.
224 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
So that they err'd unwitting how they went,
And smote their parent. He invoked his gods :
They sent him aid : the witch Perplexity
Assail'd the Welshman in the rear : who call'd
His countrymen to help him. One1 like-named,
One of strange weapons, passing small, but keen,
That drive men crazy with their eerie looks :
Along with him a little sharp-tooth't thing2
That skipt now here, now there ; but always bit,
Whether he skipt on this side or on that ;
So these two plagued the monster, robb'd his sleep,
And made him frenzied with incessant pricks :
But fail'd i' th' main achievement. Next came one
Of honey'd name, 3 with quilted doublet arm'd,
Who had good aim, but weapons all too weak.
So these all fail'd : they did their best devoir
And yet they fail'd. But last came one transform' d
With spells of gramarye like the monster's own ;
A form of wonder like to half a man, 4
(But none could tell which half), now head, now tail,
Now either-sided, always half a man,
Dress'd in queer armour dotted o'er with ohs :
He waited not to skirmish at the mouth,
But rush'd into the cave, dived in the mist,
And with new weird enchantments mazed the fiend.
But whether he will in the quest succeed,
Or whether he will hobble limping home,
None knoweth ; but, deep hidden in the mist,
1 W. R. Evans, deviser of tear-shaped and tadpole-shaped
modifiers for the same purpose ; Evan and John are etymologically
identical.
2 F. G. Flea, or Fleay, proposer of a partial immediate reform
as introductory to a perfect system.
3 H. Sweet, author of a scheme which requires doubled letters
for long vowels.
4 A. J. Ellis in a new character, as a " Dimidian " reformer.
In this spelling Rome appears as " Roam," but the Romans
as " Rohmunz " ; hence the allusion to " ohs."
AN ANATHEMA 225
Doubtless he fighteth ; and a crowd of men,
Poets and scholars, stand a little off
And shout, " God speed him ! " but they give small help.
Meanwhile one waiteth, like a motley fool, *
And gathers the spent weapons in a heap,
And sorts them wisely, for he bides his time,
Forging proof armour, weaving common spells ;
Common, yet mighty : for he deems the knights,
Each one too trustful to his own device,
Fail'd therefore. And he spies the monster's ways,
Watches his thrusts, and marks his change of shape,
Biding his time. Yet he perchance may fail,
Though he has waited now a score of years,
And valour loses oft where patience wins.
Phreneticus.
Most of the newspapers and reviews of the day
gave expression at this time to opinions on
Spelling Reform, usually of a hostile character.
The Spectator denounced the movement in vigorous
fashion, thus : " We look upon Mr. Pitman, of
Bath, and his adherents as guilty of as flat
burglary as ever frightened Dogberry. Nothing
has ever astonished us more than the fact that the
foremost philologist in England, Professor Max-
Muller, should find it in his heart to thrust the
aegis of his great name and authority in front of
this forgetive felony/ ' Isaac Pitman replied to
this accusation in a style of reformed orthography
he had now introduced under the title of the
" First Stage of the Spelling Reform/* which did
1 F. G. Fleay, in another form, and it is to be hoped in his last
avatar before his final interment in a four-cross road.
15— (2284)
226 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
not involve the addition of new types to the exist-
ing Romanic alphabet, but could be used by
cutting down one letter (p) to form a character
to represent the vowel sound u. His rejoinder to
the Spectator was as follows : —
" On reading this akiuzashon peepel wil be led
tu inkweir intu the natiur ov the ' bprglari/ and
the * feloni ' with hwich we ar charjd ; and hwen
they feind that we ar simpli supleiing the defish-
ensiz ov our alfabet, and ' puting things tu reits '
in the use ov leterz, az meni ov them az luv truth
and utiliti more than their own eaze, wil aid us
in the wprk."
There was promulgated about this time in the
United States by the American Spelling Reform
Association and the American Philological Society
a set of " Five Rules " for the improvement of
English spelling without the addition of new signs.
These rules were approved and adopted in several
influential quarters, and ran as follows : —
Rule 1. — Omit a from the digraph ea when pronounced as
e short, as in hed, helth, etc.
Rule 2. — Omit silent e after a short vowel, as in hav, giv,
liv, definit, forbad, etc.
Rule 3. — Write / for ph in such words as alfabet, fantom,
camfor, filosofi, telegraf, etc.
Rule 4. — When a word ends with a double letter, omit the
last, as in shal, wil, clif, etc.
Rule 5. — Change ed final into t when it has the sound of t,
as in lasht, imprest, fixt, etc,
THE "FIVE RULES " 227
In a letter addressed to the English Spelling
Reform Association dated 22nd May, 1882, Isaac
Pitman remarked : " The ! Five Rules ' of our
American friends do not give a satisfactory style
of spelling for three reasons. 1. They do not
affect more than thirty-four words in a column of
The Times Parliamentary debates, or one word in
seventy. 2. The rule to omit final e after a short
vowel cannot be applied in the case of the letter o,
as in love, come ; for the omission of the final e
would turn these words into lov, kom. 3. The
fourth rule is too general. If all, fall, lose the
second I, the words will be mispronounced as al
(alley), fal (fallow), and so with eleven words of
this kind." He recommended in preference a
bolder and easier style of spelling, namely, the use
of the old alphabet phonetically as far as it can
be thus applied, and explained the method by
which he considered certain consonants and u
should be dealt with.
The " Five Rules " in the hands of Isaac Pitman
were experimented with and revised till in the
end a set of directions was evolved in which little
or no resemblance to the original " rules " could
be traced. At one time he enlarged these
instructions to " Six Rules " and later on, towards
the close of his life, he reduced them to " Three
Rules/' as under :
THE THREE RULES OF THE SPELLING REFORM
Rule 1. — Reject c, q, x as redundant; use the other
consonants for the sounds usually associated with them ;
228 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
and supply the deficiency of twelve other letters by these
digraphs : —
ch, 'th, th, sh, zh, ng. I aa, ai, ee ; au, oa, oo.
cheap, thin, then, vrish, visiou, sing. | palm, pale, peel; pa\\, po\e, pool.
Write ay for the second vowel, and aw for the fourth, at the
end of a word ; as pay, law.
Rule 2. — A, e, o, u, ending a syllable (except at the end of
a word; as, sofa), represent a long vowel ; as in fa-vour, fe-ver,
ho-li, tru-li.
Rule 3. — A, e, i, o, u, in close syllables (and a at the end of
a word), represent the short sounds in pat, pet, pit, pot, put.
Use u for u when it is pronounced as in but.
Write the Diphthongs thus : ei, by ; ou, now ; iu, new
(yu initial) ; di, Kaiser ; oi, coy.
Note. — In the First Stage concede to custom / instead of
ei for the first personal pronoun ; n for ng when followed by
k or g, as bank (bangk), anger (ang-ger) ; father, piano-foarte,
pianist (for faather, piaano-forte, piaanist). When the letters
of a digraph represent separate values insert a (*) between them
as short'hand (not shorthand), being (not bying). Proper
names and their adjectives, addresses, and the titles of books,
should not be altered at present.
After the introduction of the " First Stage,"
the bulk of Isaac Pitman's Spelling Reform
publications were printed in this style, and no
longer in full Phonotypy. The enlarged alphabet,
which had been the object of experiments con-
ducted at vast expense for forty years, and in
which a library of literature had been printed,
now fell almost into disuse, in favour of a more
practicable scheme of reformed spelling through
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE 229
the medium of the existing Roman alphabet. In
the advocacy of this method of spelling Isaac
Pitman engaged with the same persistence that
he had before shown in the cause of reform with
an enlarged alphabet. Phonotypy, considering
the amount of attention which it at one time
received, has left very few vestiges of its existence
in English literature and orthography. An inter-
esting trace of it is to be found in the great
" Oxford English Dictionary," which Dr. Murray
began to issue in 1884. In this work he has
adopted in the representation of pronunciation the
phonotypes J* (sh), 3 (zh), and rj (ng) from the
phonotypy of Isaac Pitman and Alexander J.
Ellis. Of the labours of these phoneticians in
several directions Dr. Murray had spoken
approvingly in his Presidential Address to the
Philological Society in 1880, but he then expressed
the opinion that until the general principles of
phonology are understood by men of education,
no complete or systematic scheme of Spelling
Reform has the least chance of being adopted,
though he wished it were otherwise. The Spelling
Reform might have occupied a different position
to-day could it have secured in the eighties the
active support of William Ewart Gladstone.
Unfortunately this was not possible. Mr.
Gladstone, however, sympathised with the move-
ment. In a letter to Mr. Henry Pitman he
wrote, " If I were younger and had some things
off my hands, I would gladly take hold of this
230 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
reform." * But in our own time there are signs
that phonetic science is becoming more generally
cultivated among those interested in education
than was the case when Dr. Murray spoke over a
quarter of a century ago. Isaac Pitman's disin-
terested efforts to introduce a better alphabet than
the present have not therefore been wholly futile ;
they have, at any rate, prepared the way for
practical improvements in English spelling in the
future.
Several addresses were delivered at this time,
which were reported at considerable length in the
1 The following letter on Spelling Reform was addressed by
Mr. Gladstone to Mr. E. Jones fourteen years before : —
Hawarden Castle, Chester,
21th June, 1874.
Sir, — There is much that might be done with advantage in
the reform of spelling as to the English language ; but the
main thing is, that whatever may be proposed should be pro-
posed with the weight of great authority to back it. The best
plan, if proposed without such backing, will in my opinion only
tend to promote confusion. I should advise those who are
interested — and very justly interested in this question — to busy
themselves not so much with considering what should be done
as with considering in what way opinion can be brought to
bear on the matter, and some organ framed to inquire what
should be proposed. It is not in my power to offer to give any
time under present circumstances to the undertaking which
I recommend, and in which I should gladly have found myself
able to join.
I remain, your very faithful servant,
W. E. Gladstone.
E. Jones, Esq.
A VISIT TO BRISTOL 231
newspapers. Isaac Pitman visited Bristol on 8th
November, 1880, and addressed a large gathering
at the Young Men's Christian Association, in St.
James's Square, on " Phonography and the Spel-
ling Reform." Mr. Mark Whitwell, Chairman of
the School Board, a member of the City Council,
and from his exertions for the welfare of the young
known as " The Children's Friend," presided.
Mr. Whitwell was an old phonographer. He had
taken up another system in 1841, but abandoned
it for Phonography in 1843, and had since made
much use of the art, which he recommended to
all young men. Mr. Whitwell had not long
before been instrumental in introducing Phono-
graphy in the curriculum of Queen Elizabeth's
Hospital for Boys, a famous Bristol educational
foundation.
The appearance in The Times in the early days
of 1881 of a letter from Mr. James Griffin, himself
a publisher, complaining of the high price (31s. 6d.)
at which Lord Beaconsfield's new novel " Endy-
mion " was published, and suggesting that it could
have been issued at the popular price of half-a-
crown, and have thus secured a sale of half a
million, elicited the following observations from
Isaac Pitman : " The principle contended for by
Mr. Griffin has been followed in the phonographic
and phonotypic publications from the commence-
ment, and the result is that the sale of the short-
hand books in England is above 100,000 a year,
that the price is sufficiently remunerative to the
232 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
author, and that eight hundredweight of phonetic-
ally printed books in shorthand and phonotypy
are sent from the Phonetic Institute every week
in the year." A year later the output of phono-
graphic and phonotypic literature had risen to
half a ton weekly. In 1882 Isaac Pitman published
an adaptation of his system to the French
language, of which Mr. Reed was the author.
The Inventor of Phonography visited Rome in
1883, and while there gave considerable help to
Signor Giuseppe Francini in his translation and
adaptation of the Pit manic system to Italian.
About the end of 1881 a new association was
started in London under the name of the Shorthand
Society, for the study and discussion of the art of
stenography in all its phases. The first President,
Mr. Cornelius Walford (1827-1885), by profession
an actuary, was of literary and antiquarian tastes,
the author of " A Statistical Review of the
Literature of Shorthand/' and a phonographer.
The Shorthand Society consisted of writers of
various systems, and its transactions included
many valuable papers, which were published for
some years in the Phonetic Journal. Before this
Society Isaac Pitman on 28th June, 1884, delivered
an address on " The Science of Shorthand." The
question had, he said, been raised whether there
was a science of shorthand, and this query he
answered with an emphatic affirmative. There
were truths, laws, and facts connected with short-
hand, about which knowledge could be gained.
"SCIENCE OF SHORTHAND " 233
While the old school of shorthand dealt with the
letters of the known alphabet, the new, or phonetic
school, was concerned in the sounds of speech and
the signs available to represent them. In con-
structing Phonography Isaac Pitman introduced
the scientific method which he here describes, and
as we have seen, founded his system entirely on the
science of phonetics. Among the members of the
Society he was addressing were several who had
invented systems of shorthand, and outside that
body there were other contemporary inventors.
All these had developed their methods in accord-
ance with their individual applications of the
truths of phonetic science. They thus formed a
new school of shorthand inventors, and, though
perhaps they did not acknowledge it, were influ-
enced by the success with which Isaac Pitman
had utilized the phonetic principle. In this
address to the Shorthand Society he showed how
greatly the success of Phonography as a philo-
sophical and practical system of writing was due to
his use of three simple geometrical signs — a right
line, and a curve bending to the right or left — in
the construction of a phonetic shorthand alphabet
in obedience to the principle of writing sounds of
a like nature by signs of a like nature. The
address is valuable as a contribution to the history
of Phonography, because it demonstrates that in
the construction of the system its inventor
developed this scientific principle in a practical
manner, and that to his successful effort to discover
2M SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the M alphabet of nature," his system owes its
great popularity. For some years Isaac Pitman
was one of the Vice-Presidents of the Shorthand
Society.
There were several International Exhibitions
held at South Kensington in successive years at
this time and at one of these, the International
Health Exhibition of 1SS4, there was an Educa-
tional Section which was placed in the Gallery
of the .Albert Hall. Although the space which
was allotted was inadequate for the display
he desired to make, Isaac Pitman exhibited his
principal shorthand works, and arranged for an
attendant and a supply of free literature on
shorthand and spelling reform. The display
proved of considerable interest to the many
thousands who visited the Exhibition, and there
was a good demand for literature. Just before
the Exhibition closed, Isaac Pitman received
official notification that his Phonography had
received the only award made for shorthand. The
letter of the Joint Secretaries was in the following
terms : —
" We are instructed to inform you that the Jury
Commission, acting on the reports of the Inter-
national Juries, appointed by H.R.H. the Prince
of Wales, have awarded you a Silver Medal in
Class 48."
For the third time in his life Isaac Pitman
visited Edinburgh, where he delivered an address
at the opening of the twelfth session of the Scottish
A SCOTTISH WELCOME 235
Phonographic Association on 1st October, 1884.
He had first visited the city in 1841 when his
shorthand method was in its infancy. The young
inventor was then unknown to fame, and his
system was comparatively untried. But very
early in the history of Phonography Scotland had
become convinced of the value of the art and of
its practical utility, and as a result it had been for
many years extensively taught and practised in
the North, in some respects perhaps more success-
fully than in England, and the Scottish Phono-
graphic Association, established in 1874, had
grown to a large, influential, and flourishing
society for the propagation of the art. From this
society Isaac Pitman received an enthusiastic
welcome, the place of meeting was thronged, and
great numbers were unable to obtain admission.
The Lord Provost, Sir George Harrison, presided,
and was influentially supported. His Lordship
was much impressed by the enthusiasm displayed.
It showed, he said, that Scotchmen and Scotch
women retained the love of knowledge which had
characterized them for centuries, and he was
gratified to find them taking advantage of the
opportunity to honour Isaac Pitman for what he
had done " to increase the sum of human
knowledge/ '
The contrast between his first and his third
visit to Edinburgh had profoundly impressed
Isaac Pitman. When he visited the city as a
young man forty-three years before, and " the first
236 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
seeds of the phonetic reform were deposited," his
publications were few and insignificant; "Now,"
he continued, " I dispose of a million phonetic
books and Phonetic Journals every year, and about
half a million of phonetic tracts." To him this
was a source of " devout thankfulness to the
Source of all good." " It is hardly necessary,"
he went on, " that I should say to this meeting of
phonographers that I regard the phonetic educa-
tional movement in the light of a holy crusade
against ignorance. In this age of railways and
tramways, and exhibitions, and the Suez canal,
and the Mersey and Severn tunnels, and a dozen
more good things projected, it cannot be that
people will go on writing with the stammering
pen of longhand, when they may write with the
fluent phonographic pen, with all the rapidity of
speech, and with more than the ease of speech."
As to spelling : " All the efforts of teachers and
committees of School Boards are baffled by our
barbarous and inconsistent spelling, which ' no
fellow ' can master, except some of the teachers,
and some writers for the Press, editors, proof-
readers, and compositors. Only a portion of the
writers for the Press are what are called good
spellers. There is a chorus of lamentation from
the Inspectors that the reading taught in the
Board Schools is non-intelligent. The Inspectors
say that the children read in a senseless manner.
They pronounce the words, but in such a way that
a listener cannot understand what is read. The
COPYRIGHT ACTION 237
main cause of this is that they have been taught
to read and spell mechanically, and by ' cram/
without the use of their reasoning powers. The
memory alone has been exercised, and not the
judgment/ ' In replying to a hearty vote of
thanks Isaac Pitman expressed himself amazed
and delighted at the manner in which Phono-
graphy had been received by the public of
Scotland. Two years later, in 1886, an exhibit
of Phonography attracted much attention at
the Edinburgh International Exhibition, where
it was awarded the highest distinction — a gold
medal.
A short time after his visit to the North, Isaac
Pitman appeared in the Queen's Bench Division
of the High Court of Justice as the plaintiff in
" Pitman v. Hine," an action for the alleged
infringement of copyright of several of his phono-
graphic instruction books. The action was tried
before Mr. Justice (afterwards Lord Justice)
Mathew, without a jury, in the Court of Queen's
Bench (No. 9) on 4th, 5th, and 6th November,
1884. The counsel for the plaintiff were Mr.
Arthur Charles, Q.C. (afterwards Mr. Justice
Charles) and Mr. Shortt (instructed by Mr. E. B.
Titley, of Bath), and the defendant's counsel was
Mr. R. T. Wright. The hearing of witnesses
occupied two days, and on the morning of the
third his lordship delivered judgment. Not only
was the case for the plaintiff presented with much
ability — which was the more notable fvQm the
238 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
fact that counsel were unacquainted with Phono-
graphy, but the case for the defendant was
conducted with marked skill throughout.
The principal witness was the plaintiff in the
case, and his appearance in the witness-box excited
much interest. A number of shorthand writers
who had used the Pitman system professionally
for years, but had never seen its inventor, took
the opportunity of attending the Court, while a
good many other phonographers who were inter-
ested in the art in various ways followed the
proceedings with much interest. A blackboard
was placed in position between the witness-box
and the Bench, and by its aid the Inventor of
Phonography illustrated his evidence, and as
his work was followed with close interest by
Bench, Bar, and a considerable gathering of
practical phonographers, the appearance of the
Court was strongly reminiscent of a large shorthand
class. The point which it was sought to establish
on behalf of the plaintiff was that defendant's
work, entitled " Contracted Outlines," had rules
which were identical in their effect with those
contained in the books of which the plaintiff was
the author. Isaac Pitman's evidence was given
with great clearness, and under a long and searching
cross-examination he was perfectly calm and
collected, emerging from the ordeal with his case
strengthened rather than otherwise. Several
expert witnesses had been retained for the plaintiff,
of whom three were called, namely, the Hon. Ion
JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF 239
Keith-Falconer, who had about this time written
the article on " Shorthand " for the Ninth Edition
of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica/' and Mr. Reed
and Mr. Thomas Hill, both well-known as pro-
fessional shorthand writers in the High Court and
elsewhere. The defendant claimed that his rules
were his original work, that they taught advanced
and new principles, and were not copied from the
books of the plaintiff.
In the course of a lengthy judgment Mr/ Justice
Mathew decided that the evidence led to the
" irresistible conclusion that the defendant had
been copying the plaintiff's book ; and the only
reason why he can say he has not done it is that
he has illustrated the plaintiff's system by different
words from those that the plaintiff has used."
His lordship concluded : —
The defendant felt his way very carefully in commencing
his publication. He published first a small pamphlet, which
was printed [chromographed], and against that the plaintiff
protested, but he thought it a small matter, and he probably
hesitated (either from his own good sense, or from the excellent
advice he may have had) about commencing a Chancery suit in
reference to that. The defendant, emboldened perhaps by
the plaintiff's neglect, at a certain interval afterwards printed
[lithographed] what he had previously put forward in a
different form, and then again the plaintiff protested. In
the year 1880, when this publication was brought to his
knowledge, he protested against it and pointed out once more
that it was an infringement of his copyright, but he took no
proceedings. Again the defendant made a further experiment,
that expanded work No. 2, and the work the subject of the
present proceedings. He expanded the " Contracted Out-
lines " from 600 to 1,000, and then once more the plaintiff
240 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
protested. He did allow unquestionably nearly a year to
go by, and then, when the defendant had sent him a copy
of his book requesting that he would insert an advertisement
of it in the Journal, of which the plaintiff was the publisher,
the plaintiff determined to bring the matter to an end, and
a correspondence commenced, which certainly in the first
instance exhibited proper feeling on the part of the defendant ;
and the plaintiff would be justified in expecting from that
correspondence that the matter might be amicably settled.
The correspondence went on for a considerable time, until it
was clear that the defendant would not admit what the
plaintiff considered his rights in the matter, and then these
proceedings were commenced. Now it certainly throws a
flood of light upon the plaintiff's conduct in the matter, as
we have been informed, in the course of the proceedings, that
the defendant is defending this action in forma pauperis.
It is perfectly evident that a plaintiff would hesitate a long
time before he would attack a man who could not pay damages.
Subsequently he was driven to take the course he has taken.
Now it is said, " You ought to give the plaintiff damages ;
you ought not to give him an injunction." That would be
denying him all remedy, for the defendant is a man who
cannot pay damages. What is proposed is, that the defendant
should be suffered to go on to publish this work, which I hold
to be an infringement of the plaintiff's copyright, the plaintiff
being at liberty to sue him from time to time for damages,
which he would never recover. If ever there was a case in
which the powers of the Court ought to be exercised, as asked
by the plaintiff, it seems to me that this is that case. I there-
fore grant the injunction asked for by the plaintiff. I direct
the copies of his book now in the defendant's possession either
to be given up to the plaintiff, or such an arrangement to be
come to between the parties as would preclude the possibility
of the work being further published. I further give a formal
direction that the plaintiff shall have his costs at any time
should the defendant be in a position to pay him.
Though Isaac Pitman's name was so well-known
to writers of his system of shorthand through his
LECTURE AT EXETER HALL 241
many publications, the phonographers of London
had for a very long time had no opportunity of
seeing and hearing him on the platform, and the
announcement that he would lecture at Exeter
Hall on the 3rd October, 1885, under the auspices
of the Young Men's Christian Association, on
11 Shorthand, with a Peep at the Reading, Writing,
and Spelling Reform/ ' created considerable interest
in the ranks of phonographers in the Metropolis.
Mr. John Bell presided over the gathering, which
was held in the Lower Hall — the same place in
which Isaac Pitman had spoken thirty-four years
before — and when the veteran Inventor of Phono-
graphy appeared on the platform the hall was
crowded in every part, and large numbers were
unable to obtain admission. " Among those
assembled,0 we are told, " were many well-known
in the shorthand and literary circles of the
Metropolis ; a goodly proportion of phonographers,
a slight sprinkling of ladies, whose presence
attested to the growing interest taken in Phono-
graphy by the fair sex, and here and there were
seen the white hairs of age. The rest of the
audience consisted of young men of the student
class." The Christian World noted that the
lecturer, though seventy-two years of age, was hale
and hearty in appearance, and spoke for over an
hour with ease and vigour. A storm of applause
greeted him on rising.
" Not quite knowing," Mr. Reed says, u the
kind of assembly he was addressing — whether it
16— (2284)
242 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
consisted chiefly of phonographers who had come
out of curiosity to see him, or of the outside public
who desired to be instructed — he called for a show
of hands from those wrho were acquainted with
Phonography, and discovered, perhaps to his
surprise, that the large majority of his hearers
were already his disciples. This, as he remarked,
enabled him the better and the sooner to get in
touch with them, and rendered needless any such
minute explanation of the system as he might
otherwise have given. He rather dwelt on the
principles underlying the construction of his
alphabet ; and (the traditions of Exeter Hall
notwithstanding) he could not refrain from throw-
ing in a small modicum of Swedenborgian philo-
sophy and applying it to his subject. The mascu-
line and feminine element, said by the Swedish
seer to pervade all things in nature, he applied
to the consonants and vowels respectively ; and
in the pairing of the consonants themselves, as
shown in the arrangement of the phonographic
symbols, he found another illustration of the same
all-pervading dualism. The ' reading reform '
was also advocated with the lecturer's accustomed
earnestness and energy ; and some striking illus-
trations were given of the inadequacy of the
common spelling to convey the sounds of the
words represented.,,
A considerable impulse was given to the forma-
tion of Shorthand Writers' Associations through-
out the country by the issue in 1885 for the first
ISAAC PITMAN & SONS 243
time of Shorthand Speed Certificates from the
Phonetic Institute. These testimonies to practical
skill were issued from Bath in co-operation with
examining committees appointed by the local
associations, and the granting of certificates
had a most beneficial effect on the promotion of
useful efficiency in shorthand writing throughout
the country.
Isaac Pitman's two sons, Mr. Alfred Pitman and
Mr. Ernest Pitman, who were educated at Bath
College, had for some time assisted their father
in his work at the Phonetic Institute. In his
New Year's address to the Phonetic Society in
1886, the Inventor of Phonography made the brief
but interesting announcement that " The present
occasion seems an appropriate one for informing
phonographers and the public that I have now
associated with me in the phonetic business my
two sons, and that the title of the firm will in future
be ' Isaac Pitman & Sons.' " An auspicious event
marked the opening of the career of the new firm —
Isaac Pitman's H Phonographic Teacher," the most
popular shorthand book published in the English
language, this year reached its First Million.
On 21st November, 1886, Mr. Frederick Pitman,
the youngest brother of the Inventor of Phono-
graphy, and his London publisher at No. 20 Pater-
noster Row, died at the early age of fifty-eight.
His services to the winged art were considerable,
not only as teacher but as author of books dealing
with the practical uses of shorthand, and as editor
244
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of various lithographed phonographic periodicals,
which for many years enjoyed a wide popularity.
It was decided that the firm of Isaac Pitman &
Sons should for the future have their own London
publishing house, and the end of the year saw them
in occupation of their present premises, No. 1
Amen Corner, London, E.C.
XX
THE PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE— THE FIFTH INSTITUTE
1887-1889
The celebration of the Jubilee of Phonography
in 1887 was one of the most important events
in the life of Isaac Pitman, and in the history
of his system of shorthand. Its unique character
attracted great attention, not only in this country
but in distant parts of the world. No other
stenographic author in our own or any other land
had ever before been the central figure in a com-
memoration of this description. To himself per-
sonally the event formed the introduction to a
remarkable series of honours, while the impulse
the Jubilee gave to the teaching, the study, and
the practice of Phonography, as well as to its
recognition as an educational subject, was not only
immediate but permanent and far reaching. It
is probable that until the Jubilee Isaac Pitman
did not fully realise the value which the English-
speaking world set on his work as a shorthand
inventor. For years past his chief aim in life
had been to bring about Spelling Reform, and his
efforts in this direction would, he again and again
urged, be helped forward by teaching Phonography
— regarding the art merely as a means to a greater
end. He was now to have overwhelming testi-
mony that the art was valued by vast numbers
245
246 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of people not interested in orthographic reform,
as among the most important of modern time-
saving inventions in association with the art of
writing.
Very early in the preceding year the attention
of phonographers was directed to the advisability
of celebrating the Jubilee of Phonography. After
the matter had been discussed in phonographic
circles, it was brought before the Council of the
Shorthand Society by Mr. Reed, on the 3rd March,
1886, when the following resolution was passed :
" That this Council having heard from Mr. T. A.
Reed a statement as to the proposed Jubilee of
Phonography, in 1887, and a public recognition
of Mr. Pitman's labours, desire to express their
entire sympathy with the object, and request
Mr. Reed to represent them on any committee
that may be formed with a view to its promotion."
The Shorthand Society, it will be remembered,
was a body containing those writing various
systems of shorthand, and one of its most dis-
tinguished members, John Westby-Gibson, LL.D.,
an indefatigable investigator in shorthand history
and bibliography, had discovered that the date
of the Jubilee practically coincided with the
three hundredth anniversary of the beginning
of modern shorthand in England by Timothy
Bright, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He
therefore proposed that the celebration of 1887
should assume a double character, namely, the
Jubilee of Phonography and the Tercentenary
THE PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE 247
of Bright's system. The proposal met with
approval, and at the same meeting of the Council
of the Shorthand Society at which the above
resolution was passed, it was further agreed on
the proposition of Dr. Westby-Gibson, seconded
by Mr. Reed, " That it is desirable that advantage
should be taken of the Phonographic Jubilee of
1887 to hold in London an international gathering
of shorthand writers of all systems, in celebration
of the Tercentenary of the origination of modern
shorthand by Dr. Timothy Bright, 1587." The
actual date of Bright's first published book was
1588, but as he was using the system in 1586,
the celebration was made to fall in 1887 in order
to coincide with the Phonographic Jubilee. These
projects were brought under the notice of Isaac
Pitman by Mr. Reed, and the correspondence
included the following characteristic letter from
the Inventor of Phonography : —
14 Bath, 30 March, 86.
" Isaac Pitman to Thomas Allen Reed.
" You have removed the only objection I felt
to the vigorous prosecution of the Jubilee of
Phonography, and its advocacy in the Phonetic
Journal, by suggesting that whatever sum be
raised as a thank-offering should be utilized for
the extension of Phonography. This has my
hearty approval.
1 I am happy to say I need no addition to the
income I derive from the copyright of Phono-
graphy. But I think a better appropriation of
248 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the funds will be found than the institution of
prizes for the best and swiftest writers. This
would seem to involve the holding of the champion-
ship gold medal for the year. Think what labour
and anxiety would attend the examination of
several hundreds or thousands of specimens of
writing, and after a decision had been come to
nobody would be a ' pin ' the better, not even the
winners.
1 ' If it is a defect in my mental constitution to
be without ' emulation ' [or jealousy], one of ' the
works of the flesh ' (Gal. v. 20), I suppose I must
bear it with all contentment, but I confess that I
never, as a boy or a man, felt a wish to rival or
outstrip another, but only to excel my former
self.
" But we need not now consider this part of the
Jubilee. I shall be glad to assist in any way I
can, with the Journal at my back. Farewell."
Soon after Isaac Pitman wrote the letter quoted
above, public announcement was made of the
objects of the proposed celebration. The General
Committee which had undertaken its promotion
included many personages of distinction, as well
as the leading representatives of the stenographic
profession in this country, on the Continent, and
in America, with Mr. Reed as Chairman and
Treasurer, and Dr. Westby-Gibson as Hon.
Secretary. The gathering was designated " The
International Shorthand Congress, London, 1887,"
and it was the first of this series of meetings.
There were two sections of the Congress : (1)
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FACSIMILE OF SHORTHAND LETTER ON THE JUBILEE
CELEBRATION FROM ISAAC PITMAN TO MR. REED
{For Key see page 247)
DELICATE NEGOTIATIONS 249
The Phonographic Jubilee. (2) The Tercenten-
ary of Modern Shorthand, in the shape of a con-
ference to discuss the history and development
of shorthand ; its principles and modes of applica-
tion ; and its position, interests, and prospects.
It became apparent at an early date that there
was a wide divergence of opinion as to the respec-
tive claims of the two branches of the proposed
Commemoration, and there seemed at one time
a probability that this conflict of views might
result in a split among the supporters of the
movement. The wise tactfulness of Mr. Reed,
however, happily prevented this, and a method of
working was agreed upon which gave satisfaction
to all parties, and resulted in the entire success of
the Congress. This welcome result was achieved
by the appointment of two executive committees.
One of these was the Phonographic Executive
Committee, with Mr. Reed as Chairman ; and the
other was the Tercentenary Executive Committee,
with Mr. W. H. Gurney-Salter as Chairman. The
first of these committees consisted, with one
exception, of phonographers only. The second
was presided over by the head of the Gurney
system, and consisted of well-known writers of
various methods of shorthand, including several
phonographers. To the last named committee
was entrusted the arrangements connected with
that portion of the programme which dealt with
matters of general interest to shorthand writers
of all systems, and to a great extent the general
250 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
arrangements. A satisfactory agreement was
come to as to the allocation of any surplus funds
after the payment of expenses, and the Jubilee
Committee decided that their share should be
devoted to some method of perpetuating Isaac
Pitman's name and services — his wishes to be
consulted in the matter.
The Congress was held in the Geological Museum,
Jermyn Street, London, lent for the purpose by
the Lords of the Council. The proceedings
extended from Monday, 26th September, to
Saturday, 1st October. Five days were devoted
to various functions of the Congress and to
the discussion of subjects of general interest
to all shorthand writers, while Wednesday,
28th September, was specially set apart for the
phonographic celebration.
Great distinction was given to the opening of
the Congress by the inaugural speech delivered
by the Earl of Rosebery, K.G., who had accepted
the office of President. His Lordship humor-
ously observed that nobody had ever suspected
him of knowing anything about shorthand. He
had read that between the system of Willis in
1602, and Pitman in 1837, there were 201 systems,
while since that date there had been 281 more,
and he felt that it was almost a relief to feel that
one was absolutely ignorant of all of these systems.
In the course of an interesting comparison be-
tween the reporting at the commencement of the
eighteenth century and in the nineteenth century
THE "FATHER OF PHONOGRAPHY " 251
respectively, he showed conclusively that it was
the century in which he was speaking that had
witnessed the real triumph of shorthand. But
apart from reporting, he held shorthand to be of
immense service in the administration of the
country. " I believe/ ' he said, " our first economy
must lie in the direction of a much greater employ-
ment of shorthand.0 Then all our growing lads
must understand that an almost indispensable
condition of a commercial education is a knowledge
of shorthand. It must be understood, too, that
to all those who aspire to secretarial and clerical
posts a knowledge of shorthand is at least equally
indispensable, and that " in the days when
women are loudly and justly calling for increased
and enlarged employment, shorthand offers them
a pursuit which they are eminently qualified to
excel in." Without doubt this practical appre-
ciation of the advantages of shorthand greatly
promoted the wider use of the art which has come
about in the present day.
In the same speech the Earl of Rosebery made
a felicitous reference to Isaac Pitman as " the
venerated father of one system of shorthand/ '
and this suggested the slightly altered form of
! Father of Phonography/' which his admirers
began to apply to Isaac Pitman soon afterwards.
Lord Rosebery was so much interested in Isaac
Pitman that he received him at the Hotel Metro-
pole for the purpose of expressing to him personally
his appreciation of the value of his work, In
252 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the course of their conversation Lord Rosebery
remarked on the distinct way in which the veteran
shorthand author spoke, observing that it was
in pleasing contrast to the mumbling utterances
only too common. " I have frequently to com-
plain/' Lord Rosebery said, " of people bringing
out their words in such a slovenly and obscure
manner, or so rapidly, that it is quite an effort
to understand what they say." In reply Isaac
Pitman was able to say " I have, from my youth
up, studied to speak distinctly.,, His Lordship
further remarked that he observed that his visitor
most carefully articulated every syllable of the
words he uttered, and to this Isaac Pitman
replied, !' Yes, my lord, that is the result of my
phonetic system/ '
During the week the Congress discussed Parlia-
mentary Reporting, the History and Literature
of Shorthand, Legal and Official Shorthand Report-
ing, Shorthand in Education, and the Principles
and Structures of Systems. The proceedings
were reported at considerable length in the daily
newspapers from The Times downwards, and
those who had not hitherto paid any special heed
to the art of shorthand and the work of reporting,
were led in many instances to take a keen practical
interest in the Pitmanic system, which was brought
so prominently to the front by its practitioners
during the Congress. A valuable feature of the
Congress was an international exhibition of short-
hand books and manuscripts, held at St. James's
SHORTHAND EXHIBITION 253
Hall Restaurant, Piccadilly, London, W., which
was collected and arranged on behalf of the Exhi-
bition Committee by Messrs. E. Pocknell, F. H.
Valpy, and H. Richter. No such collection of
books representative of shorthand literature of
Great Britain and the principal Continental
nations had ever been exhibited before or since,
and the Chronological Collections of English
systems exhibited the progress of English short-
hand authorship from 1588 to the year of the
Congress. From his library at the Phonetic
Institute, Bath, Isaac Pitman lent a large number
of rare works of early shorthand authors, as well
as many extremely interesting exhibits illustrative
of the development of Phonography. A valuable
catalogue of much bibliographical interest was
issued by the Exhibition Committee, which
included an account of the British Museum
exhibition held at this time in the King's Library,
contributed by Dr. West by-Gibson.
The phonographic celebration of Wednesday,
28th September, is not likely to be forgotten so
long as any interest is felt in Isaac Pitman and his
system of brief writing. The central figure in the
day's proceedings contributed two papers at
different times in the day and delivered a speech
in the evening, all three utterances being charac-
terized by the straightforward, cheery optimism,
good sense, and modesty in speaking of his own
achievements, which marked Isaac Pitman's
public utterances. Dr. J. H. Gladstone presided
254 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
at the morning conference. There had been some
current misconceptions, and so he was careful to
explain that they were not celebrating the Jubilee
of shorthand and phonetic writing, but " the
Jubilee of the first publication by Isaac Pitman
of his particular system, a phonetic system
applied to shorthand, which he termed Phono-
graphy/' He " devised a thorough English alpha-
bet, capable of being applied to all the sounds of
the English tongue, and in that way was able to
start the very rational and simple style of short-
hand which so many of us practise/' Another
advantage which had not been insisted upon so
much was " that the alphabet of Isaac Pitman
affords the best means we possess of writing down
the pronunciation of any new word." Dr. Glad-
stone spoke from experience ; he had at that time
used Phonography for more than forty years.
Isaac Pitman's contribution to this gathering
was a paper entitled " The Spelling Reform and
How to Get It," which elicited a brisk discussion.
At the afternoon sitting he read a paper entitled
" The Genesis of Phonography," from which we
have quoted somewhat fully in a preceding
chapter (page 36).
Of the evening gathering in the Theatre, which
was the most interesting event of the day, Mr.
Reed (who took a leading part in it) has left a
pleasant and vivid description, which is substan-
tially reproduced here, with some added facts,
and with an additional passage from Mr. Reed's
PRESENTATION OF BUST 255
speech of especial interest as exhibiting the very
reasonable view he took of Isaac Pitman's labours
for the improvement of his system. " The
Theatre/' Mr. Reed tells us, " was crowded with
phonographers from all parts of the country, as
well as the writers of other systems at home and
abroad, who desired to join in the congratulations
to be offered to the venerable guest of the evening.
It had every appearance of a pleasant family
gathering, with a few welcome visitors who had
dropped in to offer their felicitations. Isaac
Pitman was accompanied by Mrs. Pitman and his
two sons, Alfred and Ernest, his brother Henry,
from Manchester, two of his sisters, Miss Rose
Pitman and Mrs. Webster, and his nephews,
Harry, Guilbert, and Clarence, sons of Mr. Joseph
Pitman. Dr. J. H. Gladstone was among the
visitors ; and Mr. Brock, the sculptor, was present
throughout the proceedings, and received many
a compliment on the successful and highly satis-
factory completion of his marble bust, which was
on the platform ready for the process of unveiling.' '
Mr. Reed was chosen to make the presentation,
and it was with particular satisfaction that he
announced that many persons besides phono-
graphers, and many writers of other systems, had
gladly joined in the effort to do honour to the
Inventor of Phonography. Since " Stenographic
Sound-Hand " was produced, the Pitmanic system
had become familiar to hundreds of thousands of
writers. " Whatever little differences of opinion,"
256 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Mr. Reed went on to observe, " may have
existed among phonographers on small matters
of detail, there is but one opinion among those
who, like myself, have had the advantage of know-
ing Isaac Pitman personally, as to his intense
desire to leave behind him the very best steno-
graphic instrument that his wit could devise.
I have known him, while a book has been in the
process of printing, cancel the printed pages at
a considerable pecuniary loss, and begin afresh in
order that he might incorporate in the work some
suggestion that he had received for its improve-
ment." After this illustration of Isaac Pitman's
painstaking care as an author — a by no means
infrequent occurrence at the Phonetic Institute —
Mr. Reed called attention to his services to the
community, and concluded thus : "I have now
to discharge what is perhaps the pleasantest duty
that has ever devolved upon me, that of asking you
to accept for your family from the phonographers
of Great Britain and Ireland this marble bust. It
will be to them a constant reminder of the regard
and affection entertained towards you by those
who have known best how to appreciate your
labours ; and it will, at the same time, be an ac-
ceptable legacy to posterity. Not that it is needed
to secure you a place in the recollection of your
countrymen. Your work, far better than even
Mr. Brock's faithful chisel, will keep alive your
memory in the future ; but all the more will those
who fill our places in the coming years be grateful
ISAAC PITMAN, 1887 (AGE 74)
From a Marble Bust by Thomas Brock, RA
CONGRATULATORY ADDRESSES 257
to us for having preserved to them the lineaments
of a man to whom they are so deeply indebted
for the services he has rendered and the example
he has set."
Amid enthusiastic applause the bust was then
unveiled. It is by general consent admitted to be
a faithful likeness and an admirable specimen of
Mr. Brock's art. The bust was exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1888.
Addresses were then presented from the
phonographers of South Australia, of New South
Wales, and of Carlisle ; an album had been sent
from Italy, and it was announced that a medal
from the United States was promised. Personal
congratulations were sent from the stenographers
of Russia, and the venerable Dr. Michaelis, one
of the official shorthand writers in the Upper
Chamber of Berlin, telegraphed his congratulations.
In rising to respond, Isaac Pitman was greeted
with a storm of cheers. He said : " Mr. Chair-
man, and my dear and affectionate friends : There
is a passage in the Divine Word that has rested
upon my mind for a month or two as one that I
could use on the present occasion. It is a Divine
inquiry submitted to us to institute a kind of
self-introspection or self-examination. It runs
thus : ' Seekest thou great things for thyself ? '
If we put that question to our hearts, I think there
are very few of us who can say that we do not.
The inquiry is followed by a positive command
from the Maker of the Universe, ' Seek them not/
17— (2284)
258 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
I have quoted this portion of the Divine Word
for the purpose of saying that, consciously, this
passage has been my guide from my youth up.
To-night instead of feeling that I am a kind of
Roman citizen, and that you have placed a civic
crown upon my brow, I rather feel in the condition
of a criminal arraigned before this Court on the
charge of having sought great things for myself.
I fancy to myself somehow that our venerable
chairman (Mr. Reed) is the judge. If he were but
bewigged, which would well become him, he would
be an admirable judge — a very Portia. And my
friends upon the front row seem to me to be the
jury — the grand jury ; and the seats behind filled
with the public, are the audience : and now I
stand before you in some sense as a criminal
arraigned before the world for having sought great
things for myself ; and I must from my heart declare
myself ' Not guilty/ If you, in your clemency,
come to the same conclusion, I shall go from this
meeting a happy man. And then to turn to this
bust, a doubt is suggested to my mind somehow,
and I cannot get rid of it. I have some hesitation
in deciding which is the man and which is the
image. I must really appeal to Mr. Brock. (Mr.
Brock answered with a smile.) I think this
(pointing to the bust) must be the man, such as
he ought to be for purity and beauty, and this
(pointing to himself) the imperfect image. I
only wonder how my friend Mr. Brock could have
made such an image from such a subject." Then,
PHONOGRAPHIC FINALITY 259
passing from himself to his subject, he narrated,
as an illustration of what can be accomplished
by writing, and the astonishment it creates among
those unaccustomed to it, the familiar story of the
missionary Williams and the " speaking chip,"
which did excellent service as an introductory
paragraph in the addresses of the young phono-
graphic lecturers in the early days of the crusade.
" My object in life," he added, " has been to make
the presentation of thought as simple of execution,
and as visible to the eye, as possible. Fifty years
are a long time in the life of a man, and I have
prosecuted my labours for that length of time,
and though I cannot say that we have got in
Phonography the best shorthand outline for every
word, I do maintain that we are not very far from
it. I think that the only thing that remains to
be done is, to select any words that are not facile
and beautiful in form, easy of execution by the
reporter's hand, consider them, and put them in
the best possible form, and then we shall have
completed our work." Having alluded to the
many indications of the daily increase in the
popularity of Phonography, Mr. Pitman glanced
at the question of the Spelling Reform, and then
again assumed the role of a prisoner arraigned at
the bar of justice and awaiting the verdict. Mr.
Reed thus finding himself suddenly invested with
judicial functions, submitted the case to the
audience as the only jury capable of deciding it.
A hearty burst of cheers and laughter followed,
260 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
which the Chairman interpreted to mean a verdict
of " Not guilty/' adding, according to the custom-
ary formula, that the self-arraigned prisoner
" left the court without a stain upon his character."
This little interlude ended, Mr. Pitman said :
" Well, my friends, I accept these beautiful gifts,
including the bust, with the deepest and most
affectionate gratitude of which my nature is
capable. They shall be a stimulus to me to work
on in the same line, but, if possible, with increased
diligence and faithfulness/ ' Mr. Ernest Pitman
also, for the family, returned thanks " for the
cordial way in which phonographers had shown
their appreciation of his father's labours in the
shorthand world.' '
On behalf of the foreign visitors, Dr. Dreinhofer
moved a congratulatory resolution, which was
seconded by Dr. Gladstone, and supported by
Mr. Crump, Q.C. ; Dr. Gantter, a representative
of the Gabelsberger system, in Germany ; Dr.
Weber, who represented the French stenographers ;
Mr. W. H. Gurney-Salter ; Mr. J. C. Moor, of
Sunderland; Mr. J. B. Lawson, of Edinburgh;
and Professor Bridge, of the " Chatauqua Uni-
versity," who spoke in behalf of the phonographers
of America.
The social side of the Congress included a dinner
held on Tuesday, 27th September, at the Holborn
Restaurant, over which Sir Charles Russell,
Q.C, M.P. (afterwards Lord Chief Justice and
Lord Russell of Killowen), presided with great
"SHORTHAND INVENTORS " 261
acceptability. In the speeches many interesting
observations were made relative to Parliamentary
and legal reporting. The toast of " Success to the
Shorthand Congress/' was proposed by the Chair-
man in most felicitous terms. In dealing with
the objects of the Congress, he indicated that
it might lead " to the establishment of something
like a permanent guild of shorthand writers, by
which they may create for themselves a local
habitation and focus point and centre.' ' The
toast was acknowledged by Mr. Reed. The toast
of " The Judicial Bench and the Legal Profession "
was responded to by Mr. F. O. Crump, Q.C., who
stated that he had learned Pitman's system when
a college student for taking down the lectures,
and had throughout his career made considerable
use of it. Mr. Crump made many interesting
allusions to his employment of shorthand since
he had been at the Bar, and mentioned that in
the preparation of his well-known work on the
Law of Marine Insurance he had been able to use
his shorthand ability to the best advantage.
Mr. Crump was an old friend of Mr. Reed's, and
his graceful allusion to their early associations
evoked an outburst of applause. The toast of
'Shorthand Inventors" was proposed by Mr.
Theodore R. Wright, who coupled with it M the
name of the gentleman who certainly is better
known throughout the four quarters of the globe
than any other shorthand inventor," he referred
to his old friend, Isaac Pitman.
262 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
In the opening words of his reply Isaac Pitman
made some remarks which were not altogether
understood, and were, as will be shown, elucidated
by himself later on. " As a personal matter,"
he said, " my love of shorthand is entirely with
respect to its uses to society ; and I may honestly
say, not in pride nor in depreciation of the subject,
that I have not an atom of love for shorthand as
an art for its own sake. It is only for its use."
As a superior medium of writing to the ordinary
longhand he advocated its introduction as part
of the ordinary curriculum of our schools. The
two points in the construction of a good system
of shorthand were, in his opinion, in the first place
a simple alphabet scientifically arranged, and in
the second place a good and extensive system of
abbreviations to adapt it to the requirements of
the reporter. In the generally practised system
of Phonography he ventured to think they had
those two conditions. " I hope," he added,
" that for the few remaining years of my life
I shall devote myself to the propagation of
that system, and in connection with it to the
simplification of the spelling of the English
language."
At a subsequent date, in his own Journal,
Isaac Pitman explained the statement in his
speech which had caused some surprise, that he
loved shorthand only for its use. His meaning
was that compared with the study of the spiritual
affections of man (as revealed through Swedenborg)
MANSION HOUSE LUNCHEON 263
shorthand, viewed historically or practically,
did not engage his affections. " Yet/' he said,
M I spend ten hours of a day in extending the
system which I have been enabled to present to
the world. ... I have done this from a deep
conviction of the utility of the art to English-
speaking people, that is, from a love of use. This
and the consequent Spelling Reform is my life-
work, and I enjoy it intensely, but the enjoyment
arises from the fulfilment of duty, and not from
considering the thousand stenographic and ortho-
graphic details on which it is necessary to decide,
nor in prosecuting archaeological studies in
the ancient systems of shorthand. I never
felt a greater relief from an irksome task than
when I had finished reading and reviewing the
systems of shorthand published previously to
Phonography in 1845, in my ' History of
Shorthand/ "*
The Shorthand Congress was honoured with an
invitation to lunch with the Lord Mayor of
London, Sir Reginald Hanson, at the Mansion
House, and on Friday, 30th September, a company
of about two hundred were the guests of his
1 Isaac Pitman was about this time preparing the third
edition of his " History of Shorthand," which was revised
and enlarged, with valuable tables of alphabets specially
lithographed. Notices were given of nearly 250 systems,
and in the preparation of this edition Isaac Pitman had the
valued assistance of Mr. Alexander Paterson.
264 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Lordship in the Egyptian Hall. The cordial
reception accorded to the members of the Congress
and the graceful speech of the Lord Mayor in
proposing the toast of the afternoon delighted all
present. His Lordship had just before taken
an interest in the shorthand work of the students
of the City of London School, and he now men-
tioned that the name of Isaac Pitman was the first
ever heard by him as a boy in connection with
the art of shorthand. Whatever difference of
opinion there might be with regard to the various
systems, there was, the Lord Mayor observed,
no difference of opinion at all that Isaac Pitman
was the most eminent living English inventor.
" It is a pleasure to me as Lord Mayor," he con-
tinued, " to welcome him here, and to say that
to him and to those who are representatives of
the art of shorthand we owe very much ; and we
believe that in times to come we shall owe them
still more, not merely from the commercial point
of view, but from the general point of view of
the increase of knowledge throughout the civilized
world." These encouraging sentiments were
acknowledged by Isaac Pitman and other gentle-
men who had taken a leading part in the
Tercentenary proceedings.
The Congress was brought to a successful
conclusion on 1st October, but this narrative of
Isaac Pitman's personal association with it would
be incomplete without a reference to two very
important works which his firm published in
MANCHESTER CONFERENCE 265
connection with it. One of these is the u Transac-
tions of the International Shorthand Congress,
1887." a closely printed book of 460 pages, con-
taining a complete record of the speeches delivered
and papers read at the Congress, with an appendix
of 48 pages giving a catalogue of the shorthand
exhibition. Another work of permanent value
to all interested in the history of shorthand was
" The Bibliography of Shorthand," by John
Westby-Gibson, LL.D., issued just before the
Congress opened. On the invitation of Isaac
Pitman, Dr. Westby-Gibson visited Bath, and
was able in a week's research in the library at the
Phonetic Institute to make the phonographic
portion of his work much more complete than it
otherwise would have been.
The proceedings in London did not represent
by any means the only commemoration of the
Phonographic Jubilee and the Tercentenary.
Manchester, which has been the home of many
distinguished shorthand authors and practitioners,
and is associated with important events in the
history and development of Phonography, had
celebrations worthy of itself and of the occasion.
The first gathering, a public conference on the
present position of Phonography, was held in
the Mayor's Parlour at the Town Hall, on 29th
August. His Worship the Mayor (Alderman J.J.
Harwood) who occupied the chair, gave an
address on the association of Manchester with
the art of shorthand, and mentioned incidentally
266 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the interesting fact that he was acquainted with
the first edition of Phonography. " I remember/'
he said, " making very good use of the book.,,
On the following evening, the 30th August, a
public meeting was held, presided over by Sir
Edward W. Wat kin, M.P., who gave a practical
account of his pioneer work in utilizing the art
for the dictation of correspondence in the offices
of the railways with which he was associated. It
was their custom, he remarked, when they engaged
a young man as clerk, to compel him to learn
shorthand, and Mr. Henry Pitman had been their
first teacher. " I am bound to say," he went on,
" that the Pitman system of shorthand has been
to those by whom I am here, and have been
elsewhere surrounded an unmixed blessing/' Sir
Edward was thinking of many connected with
railway work to whom phonographic ability had
been of the utmost service. Isaac Pitman gave
a comprehensive address on Phonography and the
Spelling Reform. A number of able speeches by
other gentlemen testified to the interest of Man-
chester in these subjects. The Committee, with
Mr. W. E. A. Axon as Chairman, and Mr. A. W.
Croxton as Hon. Secretary, had in fact arranged
two highly successful meetings. Advantage was
taken by the Executive of the Vegetarian Society
of Isaac Pitman's presence in Manchester to
entertain him at a banquet.
The national commemoration of the Jubilee of
Phonography was followed by celebrations in
NEW CHURCH PRESENTATION 267
the City of Bath. The first of these took place
in connection with the New Church in Henry
Street, and was held very appropriately on the
15th November, 1887, the anniversary of the first
publication of Phonography. For nearly half-a-
century Isaac Pitman had been a most active
member of the Church, and he was at this time
its honoured President. That his own people
should rejoice with him and congratulate him
on this auspicious occasion was very fitting.
There was, the minister (the Rev. J. Martin),
observed, an irrepressible desire among the New
Church friends to express their " wealth of affec-
tion and personal regard " for their fellow worker.
An address by Isaac Pitman on the origin and
progress of the Writing and Spelling Reform was
followed by a congratulatory resolution proposed
by Mr. William Harbutt, which expressed the
hope " that his life will be prolonged to see the
desire of his heart carried out to a far greater
extent." A presentation was then made of a
beautiful miniature portrait of Isaac Pitman on
ivory, by Mrs. Harbutt (exhibited at the Royal
Academy in the following year). Greatly touched
by the affection which the gift represented, and
the regard shown for him by those to whom he
was best known, Isaac Pitman expressed his
gratitude in a few fervent words and handed the
portrait to Mrs. Pitman, observing that whatever
wisdom he had, or common sense, tact, or business
capacity, were really the treasures of his wife,
268 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
and that beautiful and expressive likeness he
presented to her.
The gold medal struck in America to com-
memorate the Jubilee of Phonography reached
Isaac Pitman in February, 1888. The fund to
provide it had been raised through the efforts of
Mr. E. N. Miner, editor and proprietor of the
Phonographic World, New York, and accompany-
ing it was an address which indicated the high
value set on Isaac Pitman's invention in the
United States, as follows : —
But very few of the number who, in America, are now
practising the art which your patient study of the principles
that should govern the creation of written language enabled
you to present to the world, know the early history of your
work. Before your text-books were printed, shorthand writ-
ing was looked upon as a mystery, and the man who could, by
its use, reproduce the utterances of a speaker, was a phenome-
non of dexterity, and was regarded as little less than a nine
days' wonder. And there was reason for the belief. Those
who have compared the lessened lengths of forms in Phono-
graphy with the cumbrous outlines of the systems of Gurney,
Taylor, Harding, Byrom, Gould, and others, marvel much
that with them the requisite skill could be acquired to success-
fully report words uttered with the rapidity of colloquial
speech. " Stenographic Sound-Hand," as given by you to
the world a half century since, was the prophecy and promise
of a new revelation in the art that was realised in 1848. For
Phonography was a system of shorthand founded on scientific
principles and unfolded in systematic arrangement and
analogic harmony. It was the first in which the simplest
signs were employed ; the first in which cognate sounds were
represented by cognate signs ; the first in which those elemen-
tary sounds admitting of classification in groups were repre-
sented by groups of analogous symbols ; the first in which
[pvtmmm
THE AMERICAN GOLD MEDAL TO COMMEMORATE THE JUBILEE
OF PHONOGRAPHY, PRESENTED TO ISAAC PITMAN
AMERICAN ADDRESS 269
the attempt was made to give circles, hooks, and loops distinct
offices for efficient service in the stenographic art. By it the
language was for the first time successfully presented in
shorthand on a phonetic basis, and one who could read it could
hardly fail to know the spoken words.
But the medal which you now have is not a tribute to your
inventive genius alone. The evolution of a new idea is but
half the work. It is not alone the inventor who accomplishes
great purposes. As much credit is due to him who brings the
improvement before the world with strength of purpose to
command attention. And when the inventor and adapter
combines persistence with creative talent to the extent that
the world recognizes the truth of his statements and acts upon
them, then more than double credit is due. In America, in
nearly every commercial house, corporation, and public
journal, in our commercial and manufacturing centres, in our
Courts of law and equity, and in deliberative bodies ; indeed,
in every place where much writing is done, the stenographer
is a needed adjunct, and his presence was made possible by
your work. Phonography came to us unheralded to meet a
then unvoiced demand. With a status secured it created
a further demand for its application in spheres of usefulness
for which scarce any had thought it available.
With few exceptions, American writers who have presented
the system have frankly acknowledged their indebtedness to
you as its discoverer and inventor. In so doing they have but
followed the lead of the distinguished pioneers, Stephen Pearl
Andrews and Augustus F. Boyle, who, in their text-books
published forty years ago, used these words :
" A system of writing, to be perfect, should have one uniform
method of representing every sound of the voice that is uttered
in speaking, and which is obviously distinct. In the next place,
it is desirable for practical purposes to obtain the greatest
possible brevity, and therefore the characters or letters by
which these sounds are represented, should be the simplest
in their form that can be found. And in the third place, in
order to facilitate the learning and use of them, they ought to
be selected and arranged in strict correspondence with the
nature and order of the sounds which they represent ; thus,
270 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
sounds which are related to each other by similitude of organic
formation, should be represented by signs having in their
forms a corresponding resemblance ; in other words, the best
system of writing will be (1) true ; (2) brief ; and (3) analogical.
These properties are admirably combined in the system of
phonetic shorthand — the production of the genius and labours
of Isaac Pitman."
It only remains for us to wish you health, happiness, and
prosperity during the remainder of your career on earth, and
that your life may be spared as long as existence shall be a
pleasure to yourself and add to the happiness of others.
We are, respectfully yours,
Edward F. Underhill,)
Eliza B. Burnz, L Committee.
James E. Munson, )
There was a celebration of the Phonographic
Jubilee by the Canadian Shorthand Society at
Toronto on 12th August, 1889, when Mr. Thomas
McGillicuddy delivered a eulogy on Isaac Pitman
and unveiled a cast of the Jubilee bust.
The citizens of Bath did not allow this interest-
ing event in the life of one who resided in their
midst to pass without adding their congratulations,
and promoting a suitable memorial of the occasion.
This celebration took place a little later in point of
time than those already recorded, but the great
National Jubilee of Queen Victoria — the influence
of which was felt in the London celebrations — had
to be reckoned with. The committee which pro-
moted the project was largely representative of
the Bath Literary and Scientific Institution, with
Mr. (afterwards Sir Jerom) Murch as Treasurer,
BATH PRESENTATION 271
and Messrs. Frederick Shum and William Tyte
as Hon. Secretaries. On 22nd February, 1889,
a large company of friends and subscribers met
at the Bath Guildhall, under the presidency of
the Mayor (Dr. H. W. Freeman), to present Isaac
Pitman with a replica of the bust of Mr. Brock.
His Worship, in opening the proceedings, observed
that by his invention of Phonography Isaac Pitman
had built up for himself a unique and lasting
monument. He had travelled in America, and
the fact that he was a fellow-citizen of Isaac
Pitman's had gained him admission in societies
in New York, and other cities, to which he would
not otherwise have been admitted.
Mr. Murch, a master of graceful oratory, made
the presentation. He pointed to the fact that
although Isaac Pitman's career among them had
been quiet and unobtrusive, yet it had really been
marked by extraordinary and even world-wide
usefulness. In every part of the world where the
English language was spoken his system was used,
lessening labour and quickening intelligence. In
an age like the present, when success is valued
far too much as bringing the means of luxury
and self-indulgence, it was allowable to admire
simplicity of life and perseverance of work. It
was understood that Isaac Pitman would hand
the bust to the Royal Literary and Scientific
Institution, and alluding to this Mr. Murch con-
cluded his speech thus : " We are glad to know
that it will find a congenial home within those
272 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
walls where we have so often met you. We hope
it will be generally thought that the sculptor has
shown his accustomed skill and increased his
well-known reputation. We believe that to your
fellow-citizens, to the young especially, it will be
a valuable memorial of one who, through a long
and useful life, has gained their sincere respect,
and set an admirable example of intelligent,
benevolent perseverance. May you still be blessed
with health and strength for many years to con-
tinue that example, to share the well-earned
pleasures of old age with those who are near and
dear to you — ' honour, love, obedience, troops of
friends/ and to benefit mankind by hastening the
time when knowledge shall cover the earth as
waters cover the channels of the deep."
In his speech in response, Isaac Pitman said :
" If I were a Stoic, a neat sentence of thanks
might suffice for acknowledging this beautiful
gift. But I am not a Stoic. I am indeed deeply
moved by the kindness of the friends who have
subscribed to this testimonial. I am especially
indebted to Mr. Tyte, who originated the sub-
scription, and to Mr. Murch, who completed it.
Whatever of honour there may be in this presenta-
tion, I refer it not to myself, but render it to the
Lord, to whom alone all honour belongs. The
Literary Institution has kindly offered to accept
the bust, and to place it in the Reading Room,
and I have much pleasure in asking Mr. Murch,
as the representative of the Institution, to accept
" LETTERS" AND " NUMBERS " 273
it. I like to think of English literature under the
form of a vast temple, with a portico supported
on two pillars, on one of which is inscribed the
single word ' Letters/ and on the other ' Numbers.'
The temple is adorned with the statues of the men,
English and American, who have made the
literature, the science, and the art, that now
illumine, beautify, and bless the world. No one
is permitted to pass the portico of this temple who
is ignorant of letters and numbers, and their com-
binations. These little marks, ' a, b, c/ and ' 1,
2, 3/ that seem in themselves to have no more
meaning than the marks of birds' feet in the snow,
are really the foundation of our civilization.
There can be but little trade and commerce, and
no literature, without these seemingly insignificant
signs. In the use of figures we are consistent,
but in the use of letters we are inconsistent.
Figures always represent certain quantities or
numbers, but letters are used arbitrarily ; and
long and weary is the task to find out what
they mean." Some observations in advocacy of
Spelling Reform closed the speech.
All things have an end, and the final celebration
of the Jubilee of Phonography has now to be
recorded. The Jubilee Committee, after three
years of arduous but successful work, commemor-
ated the completion of their labours by a dinner
held at the Holborn Restaurant on the 7th March,
1889, when Isaac Pitman was presented with a
gold medal struck in commemoration of the
|8— (2384)
274
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Jubilee. The gathering was presided over by
one who described himself as " the youngest
recruit in the phonographic army," Viscount Bury
(afterwards seventh Earl of Albemarle). His
* f
u FUN IN SCIENCE."
This was the title which Isaac Pitman gave to the above
humorous drawing by Lord Bury, to which he attached a descrip-
tion containing the following : " The faces of the above happy
pair are outlined by the two principal classes of phonographic
letters, the man's face by the surds p, t, ch, k, and the breaths /,
th, s, sh, which are male sounds — mere consonant contacts,
without voice or affection ; and the woman's face being formed
by the affectionate vocal surds and continuants. On the neck of
the woman lie the vocal or affectionate nasals, liquids, and
coalescents ; and between the sturdy male and the smiling female
lies the aspirate h, waiting for the first of the six vowels beneath
to give utterance to ' Ha ! ha ! ha \ formed for each other ! ' "
LORD BURY'S TESTIMONY 275
lordship had been abroad in South America at
the time of the Jubilee, but reading the account
of the proceedings, in The Times on his return
to England, he procured the necessary phono-
graphic books and began their mastery. They
introduced him to a study which he characterized
as " fascinating/' and in eight weeks he was
writing shorthand with considerable facility. His
lordship placed himself in personal communication
with the Inventor of Phonography, who was, of
course, rejoiced to render him assistance in the
mastery of the art. Lord Bury had some
acquaintance with older systems of shorthand,
having long previously had a knowledge of one
of these imparted to him by Sir John Bo wring ;
he had also had lessons in Lewis's system. " Fifty
years ago," he said, " Isaac Pitman found short-
hand in a very chaotic condition, and a man who,
out of such elements, could evolve a system which
was brief, rapid, legible, and easily acquired, and
which had so quickly taken the foremost place
among shorthand methods, must be a remarkable
man. But he has done more than that ; for by
his indomitable energy he has brought his system
to such a position that the little seedling which
he sowed fifty years ago is now spreading its
branches over the civilized world."
In accepting with profound gratitude this final
mark of the esteem of his disciples, Isaac Pitman
mentioned incidentally that his system could not
have achieved the success it had done had he not
276 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
been content to live somewhat the life of a recluse.
Without steady work at his desk it would have
been impossible for him to have evolved the
simple yet comprehensive system which was now
making the compass of the world. He mentioned
with gratification the recent success of Phono-
graphy in a far-off land. Mr. A. Tacchi, the
Private Secretary to the Queen of Madagascar,
who reported the speeches of the House of Repre-
sentatives in that country, had just published an
adaptation of the Pitmanic system to the Mala-
gasy language. He also noted the appearance of a
Dutch adaptation of Phonography, by F. De Haan,
first published in 1887.
Another announcement of much interest was
made by Isaac Pitman on this occasion, namely,
that on that day, he and his sons, with their staff,
had entered on the occupation of a new Phonetic
Institute. The premises in the Abbey Church-
yard, which had been occupied for fifteen years,
had latterly proved inadequate to the accommoda-
tion of the increasing staff, and accordingly a new
Institute — the fifth — was built a little over a
mile from the centre of Bath, and in the parish of
Twerton-on-Avon. The new Institute was planned
and constructed in a style most suitable for the
complete production of books and periodicals,
and the architect was Mr. W. J. Wilcox, of Bath.
The opening was celebrated by a tea and enter-
tainment to the staff and friends, to the number
of two hundred, and Isaac Pitman, who presided,
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BRITISH ASSOCIATION ADDRESS 277
in his address to his employees urged them to
cultivate a taste for reading, and stated that in
order to encourage this he had established a free
lending library in association with the Institute.
In spite of the many demands on his time and
attention which have been described in this
chapter, Isaac Pitman was able to make other
public appearances. For the second time within
his experience the British Association visited Bath
in the year 1888, and on this occasion a paper by
himself with the title " Economy in Education
and in Writing/ ' was accepted. It was delivered
in Section F on the 11th September, and its reader
urged with unusual freshness and force the saving
of time in teaching to read which would follow
from the adoption of phonetic spelling, and the
saving of time in writing which would follow from
the general use of Phonography. The speeches
were almost entirely favourable to the arguments
which had been placed before the section in the
paper.
An address on " Literary Reform, and Economy
of Time in Writing,' ' was delivered by Isaac
Pitman on 16th September, 1889, in the Lecture
Theatre of the Midland Institute at Birmingham.
The audience numbered considerably over one
thousand, and many were unable to find seats.
" There is something peculiarly fascinating/ '
wrote the Birmingham Daily Mail, " in the
contemplation of the career of this remarkable
man. It is a life that gives the world a new idea
278 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
of everlasting energy. Fifty-two years ago Isaac
Pitman was engaged in thinking out and develop-
ing the system of shorthand with which his name
will ever be associated, and to-day finds him
just as busily occupied with a much more daring
project, nothing less in fact than a sweeping
revision of [the orthography of] the English
language/ ' But the Mail was fain to admit
that to a very large extent Isaac Pitman had
argument on his side.
The harmony which had prevailed among the
writers of various systems of shorthand during
the Tercentenary proceedings of 1887 was rudely
shattered in the following year. Certain pro-
posals in association with the periodical issued by
the Shorthand Society led to some altogether
unfounded allegations being made against Isaac
Pitman at the annual meeting of that body on
the 30th June, 1888, when by a coup d'etat the
control of the Society was secured by certain
anti-phonographers. So far as he was concerned,
Isaac Pitman had no difficulty in demonstrating
that the charges levelled against him were
chimerical, and he resigned his membership. His
example was at once followed by nearly all the
phonographic members of the Society, which
some years afterwards came to an end.
XXI
A NEW EPOCH IN SHORTHAND TEACHING — THE
NATIONAL PHONOGRAPHIC SOCIETY — AN EDITORIAL
JUBILEE
1890-1893
One of the first fruits of the Jubilee of Phono-
graphy was the State recognition of shorthand
as a subject of instruction in schools aided by
Government grant. " In educational circles/'
Isaac Pitman exclaimed, ? shorthand is now the
topic of the day." The Technical Instruction
Act of 1889 included shorthand among a number
of useful subjects for evening schools, and the
Sheffield Town Council was the first municipal
body in the country to arrange for instruction in
Isaac Pitman's systepi under the new Act. For
some time previous to this legislative sanction,
the London School Board had taught shorthand
in its schools, and this course was now rendered
possible throughout the country by the inclusion
of shorthand in the Education Code of 1890,
among numerous optional " specific " subjects,
and for the next eleven years, until " specifics "
were abolished, Phonography was extensively
taught in elementary day schools. Isaac Pitman
had, therefore, the happiness during the remaining
years of his life of seeing his ideal with regard to
the mission of Phonography completely realized.
279
280 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
" The immediate cause of the extended practice
of shorthand," he had written years before, " was
the diffusion of knowledge among the middle
classes of society. It has yet to be extended to
the lowest classes, and this will be the mission of
Phonography combined with Phonetic Printing.' *
Shorthand instruction was now made part of the
elementary educational system of the country,
but its importance was not overlooked by the high
schools of the land. It was introduced at Rugby
School, its value being appreciated by the then
Head Master, Dr. Percival (now Bishop of Here-
ford), and in many other schools and colleges
throughout the country. At this period, indeed,
Isaac Pitman was able to announce that every
year one hundred thousand persons learned
Phonography.
The considerable extension in the teaching and
practice of shorthand at this time had impressed
on the minds of many leaders in the phonographic
world the necessity of an organization framed
and conducted on national lines for the cultiva-
tion and advancement of Phonography, and for
the regulation of the teaching of the art, by the
examination of those who proposed to teach and
the granting of a teacher's diploma, which would
be recognized by educational authorities. These
objects were promoted by the establishment of
a body conducted on national lines, entitled the
National Phonographic Society. This Society was
successfully inaugurated at a meeting held at the
NATIONAL PHONOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 281
Memorial Hall, London, on 31st October, 1890,
and eight years later it became the Incorporated
Phonographic Society. There was a crowded
gathering of phonographers at the inaugural
meeting, and for an hour before the proceedings
began Isaac Pitman held a kind of informal recep-
tion in the Hall. The greatest enthusiasm and
cordiality prevailed, and it is recorded of him
in a descriptive account of the proceedings
that " white-haired, active as a stripling, and
almost as erect, his happy face beamed with
content as he wheeled about from one knot to
another.' ■
Lord Bury presided, and wished the new
Society God-speed. He represented, he said, the
outside world, which looked with admiration at
the perseverance which had initiated and carried
to its full extent the great art of stenography.
" We have here," his lordship went on to observe,
" the doyen, the head and front of the phonographic
world, the man who has had the genius to succeed
in establishing a system of shorthand invented
by himself, not upon the ruins of other systems,
but alongside them, carrying out to a still greater
extent the benefits which they before him con-
ferred upon mankind ; and he has now developed
a system which I am persuaded, and the outside
public are persuaded, will more and more draw
within its own lines the stenographic world. It
is applicable not only to the English but to all
other languages/ ' Lord Bury expressed his entire
282 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
approval of the objects of the Society which were
thus set forth : —
(a) The discussion of (1) all questions theoretical and
practical connected with the art of Phonography
and its uses ; (2) the history and literature of
Shorthand and cognate topics.
(b) Efforts to raise the status and remuneration of
phonographic practitioners.
(c) The institution of Examinations of Teachers and
others, and the granting of Certificates of
Proficiency.
(d) The promotion of mutual intercourse and esprit de
corps among Phonographers.
The resolution establishing the Society was
proposed by Mr. Reed, seconded by Mr. E. J.
Nankivell, supported by Dr. (now Sir William)
Gowers, and carried by acclamation. A speech
from Isaac Pitman followed, in which he con-
gratulated the phonographic world on the institu-
tion of the Society, and expressed his gratitude
to the officers for their labour in framing the
constitution. The general usefulness of shorthand
would, he affirmed, be destroyed by the practice
of many systems, but the formation of the National
Phonographic Society would do much to prevent
such an undesirable result. He became the first
President of the Society, and continued to hold
office until 1895.
It is an interesting coincidence that the Institute
of Journalists was incorporated by Royal Charter
in the year which witnessed the establishment
of the National Phonographic Society. Isaac
F. X. GABELSBERGER 283
Pitman became, and remained till his death, a
member of the Institute. In the summer of 1890
the third International Shorthand Congress was
held at Munich, where special honours were paid
to the memory of Franz Xavier Gabelsberger
(1789-1849), " the founder of modern Teutonic
shorthand/ ' and a statue was unveiled. Isaac
Pitman attended, and paid a tribute to the memory
of the great German shorthand author.
One of the incidental effects of the Jubilee of
Phonography was to bring about more cordial
relations between its Inventor and American
practitioners of the phonographic art. Isaac
Pitman at this time established a closer touch
with Transatlantic phonographers by sending his
nephew, Mr. Clarence Pitman, to New York in
April, 1890, where he has since had charge of
the interests of Phonography in the Western
Hemisphere.
The beginning of 1891 witnessed another Jubilee,
that of the Phonetic Journal, which this year
completed its fiftieth volume. During that long
period, with only a brief interregnum, Isaac Pitman
had been its editor. He had moved with the times,
and had both reduced its price and enlarged its
size. The Jubilee year was marked by a further
extension in the number of its pages, and with
an increasing circulation its usefulness was greatly
extended. During this year the promotion of the
National Phonographic Society occupied a good
deal of attention, and in pursuance of this project
284 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Isaac Pitman and Mr. Reed addressed a crowded
and enthusiastic gathering at the Christian Insti-
tute, at Glasgow, on 23rd September. Isaac
Pitman's subject was " Shorthand," and he made
an exalted claim for the art : " Shorthand," he
said, " develops mind ; expresses, amplifies, and
quickens thought ; and kindles and increases
affection, and thus promotes the best interests
of mankind." His address was enthusiastically
received, and at its conclusion he spoke to an
overflow meeting. Mr. Reed followed with a
persuasive address, in which he commended the
new Society to the support of the phonographers
of the North. A few days later, on the 29th
September, Isaac Pitman addressed another large
gathering assembled at the Y.M.C.A. Hall at
Bristol. The second inaugural meeting of the
National Phonographic Society was held in London
on the 21st October, when the first shorthand
teacher's certificates, awarded after examination
by the Society's Examining Board, were presented
by the Earl of Albemarle to exactly one hundred
successful candidates, and it was announced that
the Society had received an addition of one
thousand members. Isaac Pitman was unable
to be present but had spoken an address into
the phonograph, in which he congratulated the
Society on meeting for the first time to award
teacher's certificates to those phonographers who
had demonstrated their ability by passing its
examination.
EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY 285
On the 4th January, 1892, Isaac Pitman cele-
brated his eightieth birthday. The fact that he
had joined the ranks of the octogenarians was
not lost sight of by w troops of friends " in all
parts of the world, who showered upon him
innumerable friendly greetings, for which he made
a general acknowledgment in grateful terms.
" Their good wishes," he said, " cheered and
encouraged him, and he hoped to repay them by
not lessening the number of his days on earth
through overwork, as many men who undertook
important missions had done." In his early life
it was prophesied that his too assiduous labour
would bring him to an early grave, but this
birthday and his observations on it recall a passage
from a speech he had delivered at Nottingham
in 1849, which has considerable biographical
interest. '* I am sometimes told," he then said,
" that I shall wear myself out in a few years, but
I think differently. I take everything very calmly,
and have acquired the habit of doing my work
quickly, in shorthand style. I have adopted
temperate habits of life and early hours of rising
and going to bed ; and I have the happiness of
being descended from a healthy stock, being the
third child of a family of eleven, only one of whom
died in youth, and the youngest of whom, Frederick
Pitman, is now (1849) on the verge of manhood.
I am now thirty-five years of age. My father,
an eldest son, is now sixty-one, and has scarcely
passed the prime of life, and his father, who is
286 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
eighty-one, gives promise of a few more years in
this world. And I may add that when I was a
boy I attended my great grandfather's funeral.
I hope then, through the Divine mercy, I may
reach the age of eighty.' ' On the completion of
his eightieth year, he was presented with a hand-
some illuminated address of congratulation and
good wishes from the Scottish Phonographic
Association.
A new phonographic weekly periodical began
its career in 1892 under the title of Pitman s
Shorthand Weekly. This was established by
his sons, but Isaac Pitman took a keen interest
in its success, and wrote the transfer of the litho-
graphed shorthand of the first page of the first
number. His " Greeting " was in the following
terms : —
" Phonography has added a new joy to life,
and given a new wage-earning employment to the
nation. Its use saves time, and time is life ; it
quickens thought and its expression, and thus
cultivates the mind ; and it promotes intercourse
between persons living at a distance from each
other, and is thus l knowledge in the making.'
" Shorthand was first printed by lithography
in the Phonetic Journal for 1842. During the last
fifty years, at a moderate computation, a hundred
thousand pages of lithographed shorthand have
been published, which have been read by perhaps
a million persons. During the first sixteen years
of the Writing and Spelling Reform, from 1842
to 1858, I wrote the transfers of several shorthand
;
-- < L .V. i "I
SPECIMEN OF PHONOGRAPHY PRODUCED BY THE TYPOGRAPHIC
ETCHING PROCESS
( The characters are etched with special tools on the wax coating of
a brass plate, from which electrotypes are taken. Adopted in
'' Pitman's Shorthand Weekly " in fune, i8g2)
Key. — Our living flocks of thoughts need no longer trudge it slowly and wearily down
the pen and along the paper, hindering each other as they struggle through the strait gate
of the old handwriting. Our troops of feelings need no more crawl, as snails crawl, to their
station on the page : regiment after regiment may now trot briskly forward, to fill paragraph
after paragraph : and writing, once a trouble, is now at breathing-ease. Our kind and loving
thoughts, warm and transparent, liquid as melted from the hot heart, shall no longer grow
opaque, and freeze with a tedious dribbling from the pen : but the whole soul may now
pour itself forth in a sweet shower of words. Phonotypy and Phonography will be of a use
in the world not dreamed of, but by a few. Aye, and shake your heads as ye will, they
will uproot the old spelling ; they will yet triumph over the absurdities of the dead age. —
Henry Sutton's " Evangel of Love."
"PITMAN'S SHORTHAND WEEKLY" 287
periodicals, sometimes three, in different styles,
running together monthly. Then for fourteen years,
to 1872, a lithographed ! Supplement ' was added
to the Phonetic Journal, which was published at
3d. In 1873 engraved metal shorthand characters
were introduced, the price of the Journal was
reduced to Id., and its circulation rose from 1,000
to the present 24,000.
" These recollections visit me in ushering into
the phonographic world a new shorthand periodical,
and in writing the transfer of this brief address.
For half-a-century it has been to me a labour of
love to edit the Phonetic Journal, and a source of
gratification to find it from year to year meeting
with ever increasing support. Though only a year
has passed since the Journal was enlarged from
sixteen pages to twenty-four pages, it is already
found inadequate to contain the increasing variety
of important matters pertaining to the study of
Phonography, to the numerous interests of those
who use it and teach it, and to the promotion of
the Spelling Reform — a goal in the distance for
which we strive.
" A general desire has been expressed for the
presentation of Phonography in a recreative
aspect. The adoption of Phonography in schools,
mutual improvement societies, etc., has greatly
increased the number of writers of the system,
and there is a corresponding increase in the demand
for entertaining reading matter. The Journal
supplies three styles of shorthand, as lessons and
models for learners, letter writers, and reporters ;
and the present publication, it is hoped, will supply
home reading adapted to amuse and instruct the
vast number who every year become students and
practitioners of phonetic shorthand."
288 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
In this year (1892) Isaac Pitman spent his sum-
mer holiday in the Channel Islands, to which he
then paid his first visit. His system had gone
before him, and by special request he gave a
lecture on the art on 3rd of August in the
Guille-AUes Library at Guernsey.
When a proposal was mooted that the Phono-
graphic Jubilee of Mr. Reed should be celebrated in
1892, Isaac Pitman promoted the project with his
whole heart, and his invitation to the phonographic
community to support it was, without doubt, a
considerable factor in the gratifying success of
the movement. For nearly the whole of the
preceding half-century Mr. Reed had been in the
forefront of the phonographic world, in promoting
the extension of the art and assisting its practi-
tioners ; he had consequently hosts of friends in
every rank of society, while his writings had made
him almost a personal friend to innumerable
phonographers who had never seen him. Among
the speakers at the presentation, on the 23rd
November, was Dr. Gray, of Oxford, who appro-
priately observed that the Reed Jubilee was an
event in the history of Phonography which would
always stand side by side with the Jubilee of 1887,
and such indeed it was. The presentation, which
took the form of a cheque, was made by Isaac
Pitman, and the value of the token of esteem from
the phonographic community was evidently
greatly enhanced in Mr. Reed's estimation by the
fact that he received it at the hands of one whose
LAST LECTURE 289
words of encouragement fifty years before had
determined his career in life.
At this period Isaac Pitman was more frequently
on the platform than had been possible with
him in recent years, and special interest attaches
to what proved to be his last lecture on Phono-
graphy, because it was given at his birthplace,
Trowbridge. It was delivered on 1st December,
1892, at the Town Hall. The Chairman (Mr. W.
Walker) made graceful allusion to the fact that the
lecturer was a native of the town. Isaac Pitman
gave the audience some reminiscences of his early
days, and observed that when he looked back on
his past career, he often thought of the words
contained in the verse of Scripture, " What hath
God wrought ! " Before he concluded his lecture
on Phonography he discovered by a show of hands
that at least three-fourths of his audience were
acquainted with his system, a fact which afforded
him no small gratification. The second portion
of his lecture was devoted to the advocacy of
Spelling Reform. About this time Isaac Pitman
made other public appearances. The season was
extremely wet, and the result was a serious
attack of congestion of the lungs, and for the first
time for a long period the venerable Inventor of
Phonography was confined to his bed. He was
now residing at the Royal Crescent, Bath, himself
and family having taken up their residence there
at the time the new Institute was opened. On
recovery, he removed his desk from the Institute
xg-(2284))
290 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
to the Royal Crescent, thus avoiding unnecessary
exposure to the weather.
In March, 1892, the Phonetic Society had been
established for fifty years, and the Jubilee list of
members was the largest ever issued, containing
5,098 names. From this date annual lists were
discontinued, and with Isaac Pitman's withdrawal
from the Institute, the Society ceased to exist.
The phonographic functions which this Society
once discharged were now carried out in a different
way by other bodies, while its work as a promoter
of orthographic reform was continued by the
organization of a Speling Leeg, founded by Isaac
Pitman on the 4th January, 1893, with Professor
Max-Muller as President. When on his summer
holiday at Southsea in this year, Isaac Pitman
gave an address on the objects of the Leeg at the
Portsmouth Town Hall to a number of teachers,
and a resolution of approval of reformed spelling
was passed.
In the Lecture Hall of the City Temple, in the
presence of a crowded gathering, Isaac Pitman,
on 27th September, 1893, distributed the prizes
gained by the students of the Metropolitan School
of Shorthand, of which his sons had a short time
before become the proprietors. This was the last
occasion on which he spoke in public on Phono-
graphy, and in the course olkhis address he dwelt
on the great saving of time which its use 'had
effected in various directions. He pointed to the
dissemination of his system through all English
IAST PHONOGRAPHIC ADDRESS 291
speaking countries. " In every part of the world,"
he remarked, " where our noble tongue is spoken,
phonetic shorthand is written. It has been adapted
to the writing of fourteen foreign languages,
and eleven foreign systems have been published!
They are French, Flemish, German, Italian
Spanish, Dutch, Welsh, Chinese, Japanese'
Bengalee, and Malagasy. The Debates in the
Japanese Houses of Parliament are reported in
Phonography." Later in the same year he became
acquainted with the fact that his system had also
been adapted and published in Marathi ; and
shortly before his speech a Tongan adaptation
had appeared.
XXII
KNIGHTHOOD CONFERRED ON THE " FATHER OF
PHONOGRAPHY. " — RETIREMENT FROM THE
PHONETIC INSTITUTE, 1894
" I feel a lessening of the joy of life now that in
my old age I can no longer be with you daily,
aiding in your labours and hearing the music of
the machinery.' ' Thus wrote Isaac Pitman in
response to an address of congratulation promoted
by the staff of the Phonetic Institute on the im-
portant event recorded in the present chapter.
There is a certain pathos in the spectacle of the
valiant champion of the Reading and Writing
Reform having to retire through the weight of
advancing years from the scene of his life-long
labours. For half-a-century he had directed the
Reform from his desk at the Phonetic Institute
with all the zeal and ability, and with the full
extent of unwearied industry of which he was
capable. His inability to be there as of old was
deeply felt, but without a trace of despondency
or the iteration of unavailing regrets. At his
home he could still work for the cause to which
he had consecrated his life, and he was able to
drive down in his carriage to the Institute, in
order to give directions in matters there to which
he still paid personal attention. At this time,
292
SIR ISAAC AT HOME 293
however, the bodily ailment which was eventually
to prove fatal had manifested itself, in the shape
of disease of the mitral valve of the heart. But
despite this there was the same buoyancy of
spirit and cheerful demeanour exhibited during
the remaining years, and almost the same activity
as of old manifested now and for some time to
come.
The interest felt in the career of the veteran
" Father of Phonography " found expression at
this period in the publication of various interviews
and biographical sketches in the newspapers and
popular periodicals of the day. A clever pen
picture of the Inventor of Phonography in his
home was published in You and I for March, 1894,
from which we quote some passages which have
a biographical interest : —
" The Royal Crescent, Bath, overlooking, from
the proud eminence on which it stands, the pictur-
esque grounds of the Victoria Park, is an ideal
place of residence for the man who, in the closing
years of a busy life, seeks not rest, but continues
his work in the privacy of his own sanctum.
" I received a warm welcome at No. 12, the
residence of Isaac Pitman, when I called upon
him on a recent bright morning, for the purpose
of hearing from his own lips a few particulars of
his long and eventful career. He greeted me
with charming cordiality, and I realized at once
that I was in the presence of a man who would
make friends and inspire confidence wherever he
might go.
294 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
<(
Though Isaac Pitman is now in his 82nd year,
he looks at least ten years younger, in spite of his
snow-white hair and beard. His step is firm and
elastic, his voice clear as a bell, and his spirits
quick and merry. His fluency of speech tells of
continual activity of mind. He is essentially a
business man.
" The room in which we sat and conversed bears
witness to this fact. The walls are lined with
well-stocked bookcases, and the centre of the floor
is occupied with two writing-tables.
" ' These/ said he, pointing to the volumes
which filled the shelves on one side of the apart-
ment, ' are books chiefly connected with shorthand
and spelling reform. Here/ indicating another
case, c is general literature, and in the cabinet
over the fireplace I have stacks of our own tracts,
of which there are already fifty-five different kinds,
which are continually being added to/
" I noticed bound volumes of the Phonetic
Journal, which has reached the 52nd year of
its existence, in one bookcase ; and in another
a complete set of the Art Journal from its
commencement .
" At Isaac Pitman's writing-table we sat
together and talked over many incidents in my
venerable friend's career. He speaks with pardon-
able pride of the present position of Phonography,
and the extent to which it is taught and practised
throughout the country — I might almost say,
throughout the world.
" ' Shorthand has become a recognized necessity
amongst the acquirements of education/ he said
to me ; ' and there is no doubt that it will ulti-
mately come into general use for correspondence
POSITION OF PHONOGRAPHY 295
and all ordinary matters of writing. For legal
documents it will never supersede longhand, but
there is no other clerical work for which it is not
suited. Printers compose from shorthand nowa-
days, you know. Look at this • ' he handed me
a neatly written manuscript in shorthand. ' That
article was set up at our office from that very copy.
Corrections, interlineations and all are in short-
hand, you see. Economy in labour ; I should think
so, indeed. Think what it will mean to reporters
and jaded newspaper men, when it is no longer
necessary for them to sit up all night to transcribe
the notes taken during a hard day ! '
" ' Phonography/ remarked Isaac Pitman, ' has
reached the top of the hill, and may now be left
to run alone. Phonotypy has still the height
before it, and requires all the help, all the pushing
that I can give it during the few remaining years
of my life/
" Although too much absorbed in his own
particular sphere of labour to take any prominent
part in public matters, he evinces a keen interest
in all movements which relate to educational
and social advancement. Thus quietly and un-
ostentatiously Isaac Pitman works on, — not for
personal aggrandisement, not fame, but for the
benefit of mankind in general, and particularly of
the young men and young women, to whom, when
his own labour is done, he will bequeath the cause
to which he has given his thought — his time —
his life."
While engaged in the daily occupation the You
and I interviewer has so well described, Isaac
Pitman was the recipient of a letter from the then
296 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Prime Minister, the Earl of Rosebery, which ran
as follows : —
10 Downing Street, Whitehall,
21st May, 1894.
My dear Mr. Pitman,
It is with great pleasure that I make the intimation to
you that the Queen has been pleased to confer on you the
honour of Knighthood. I have recommended this distinction
on the ground of your great services to Stenography, and the
immense utility of that art. It was always a cherished hope
of mine to obtain a recognition of these, which it is a sensible
satisfaction to have realized.
Yours truly,
Rosebery.
To this communication its recipient made the
following reply, writing his letter in longhand
in the ordinary spelling, with an interlined
shorthand version : —
12 Royal Crescent, Bath.
22nd May, 1894.
My dear Lord Rosebery,
I am very grateful to your lordship for the honour of
knighthood which the Queen has conferred on me by your
lordship's recommendation for my services to the English
language in giving it the briefest possible written form.
That form was attained by classifying the sounds of speech
scientifically, and then arranging the shorthand signs in
harmony with the sounds. Abbreviating principles were
then applied to the letters. The result is seen in the
interlineation of this letter.
Gratefully, your lordship's most obedient servant,
Isaac Pitman.
KNIGHTHOOD 297
The London Gazette of 25th May, 1894, announced
that Queen Victoria had " been pleased to signify
her intention of conferring the honour of knight-
hood upon Mr. Isaac Pitman, the originator of
Pitman's system of shorthand."
The honour of knighthood for services in
association with literature, science, art, and allied
subjects, had hitherto been very sparingly be-
stowed, and with certain well-marked limitations.
Lord Rosebery's departure in the case of Isaac
Pitman and some others has been followed by
succeeding Prime Ministers, and has resulted in
this honourable distinction being more and more
employed to show national appreciation of worthy
effort. When the intention to confer a knight-
hood on Isaac Pitman became known, the Press
of the United Kingdom and of the British Empire
beyond the seas uttered a chorus of approval.
The Daily News very fitly expressed the general
sentiment in the remark that " Another of the new
knights, whose title will be welcome to the whole
public, is Isaac Pitman, the founder of the great
system of shorthand which will always be associated
with his name. The knighthood becomes more
and more an order of merit as it takes account
of the services of such men."
Admirers and relatives in far distant parts of
the world (among whom were his two sons, then
on a tour in America) as well as friends at home,
vied with each other in sending hearty messages
of felicitation. Addresses of congratulation
298
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
reached him from Shorthand Writers' Associations
in all parts of the British Empire. By a happy
coincidence a distinguished citizen of Bath, whose
name has already appeared in these pages, was
knighted at the same time, and this gentleman,
Sir Jerom Murch, was presented with his portrait
on 23rd May at the Bath Guildhall. Isaac
Pitman was present, and the congratulations of
the citizens of Bath were tendered to both.
From the House of Commons came an address
written in Phonography and bearing the short-
hand signatures of Members of Parliament
acquainted with the art, all (with the exception of
Sir John Leng's) written in Pitmanic Shorthand.
, This ran as follows : —
To Sir Isaac Pitman.
House of Commons,
2Btk May, 1894.
Dear Sir,— rThe undersigned members of the House of
Commons desire to offer you their hearty congratulations on
the well-deserved honour you have received at the hands of
the Prime Minister. Wishing you long life and prosperity,
We are, yours very truly,
E. H. Bayley
x Thos. J. Healy
Jasper Tully
T. H. Healy
Maurice Healy
Chas. Diamond
S. D. Waddy
Archibald Grove
T. P. O'Connor
M. D. Bodkin
Wm. O'Brien
John Leng
The accolade of knighthood was bestowed by
Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on the following
RETIREMENT 299
18th July. Isaac Pitman was suffering from
lameness at the time, for which he was receiving
medical attention, but he was able to kneel before
the Queen. Her Majesty had with gracious
consideration, intimated that this part of the
ceremony could be dispensed with in his case.
Happily, however, he could fulfil the usual
requirements in association with the ceremony.
Soon after the bestowal of knighthood, Sir Isaac
Pitman retired from partnership with his sons,
Messrs. Alfred and Ernest Pitman, and transferred
to them his interests in the works of which he was
the author. The transfer had been commenced in
the Spring, but it was delayed by various causes,
and it was not finally completed till 10th August,
1894. At the time of his retirement, Sir Isaac
had been uninterruptedly engaged in the work
connected with his invention of Phonography for
fifty-seven years, and had edited the Phonetic
Journal for fifty-two years, a ^ record in both
respects quite unique in our national history. In
this year (1894) the sale of the " Phonographic
Teacher " attained to a total of two million copies.
It was in this year also that the National Society
of Shorthand Teachers, (afterwards the Incorpor-
ated Society of Shorthand Teachers), was founded,
and Isaac Pitman accepted a cordial invitation to
become the Patron of the society.
XXIII
INTERESTS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND FADS. —
SOME PERSONAL DATA
A career of incessant occupation in the pro-
motion of his mission in life left Isaac Pitman
comparatively little time or opportunity for active
participation in public work of the ordinary kind,
or for the cultivation of his individual tastes.
But there were matters outside his special concern
to which he was particularly attracted, and
attention may be fitly directed to these now that
the story of his efforts as a Shorthand Inventor and
Spelling Reformer is all but completed. Through-
out his life the movements of the time greatly
interested him, especially those which related to
religion, politics, hygiene, and social life ; he
cultivated at least one accomplishment, that of
music ; and he had a good many fads, frankly
owned as such, and from the promotion and
advocacy of which he derived no small enjoyment.
Deeply interested in theological studies, Isaac
Pitman followed, with close attention, the move-
ment that extended over a considerable portion
of his active life and resulted in the production of
the Revised Version of the Bible. As we have
seen, he made in early life a very close study of
the text of the Authorised Version. When the
work of the revisers was submitted to the public,
he examined it with great interest, and expressed
a preference for the revisions of the American
300
SWEDENBORG 301
Committee to those which were sanctioned by the
scholars who assembled in the Jerusalem Chamber.
Since his acceptance of the doctrines of Emanuel
Swedenborg, he was an assiduous student of
the voluminous religious writings of the Swedish
philosopher, and it was his custom to read a portion
of them for half-an-hour early in the morning,
before going to his desk at the Phonetic Institute
to begin the duties of the day. To many enter-
prises of the New Church body he gave substantial
monetary support down to the time of his death.
If his zeal for the promotion of the doctrines of
Swedenborg was at times a little inopportune,
he had at any rate a profound respect for the
religious convictions of others, and his relations
with the clergy of all denominations, and with
members of various religious communions were of
the most cordial character. He took consider-
able interest in hymnology, but the popular com-
positions of modern authors did not arouse in him
anything like the admiration he felt for the hymns
of older writers.
In politics Isaac Pitman was a lifelong supporter
and advocate of Liberal principles. His interest
in political questions was early aroused by the
popular demand for the franchise, which resulted
in the Reform Bill of 1832. He gave active
support to the Free Trade movement, led by Mr.
Cobden and Mr. Bright ; he took a strong interest
in the Irish legislation of Mr. Gladstone, and was
in his later years a hearty supporter of the Home
302 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Rule policy of the right hon. gentleman. A
member of the Bath Liberal Association, he
occasionally took his seat on the platform at
their meetings ; his political utterances, when
invited to speak, had the unusual merits of
conciseness and brevity. He was a Vice-President
of the United Kingdom Alliance, and on a well-
known occasion, when Sir Wilfrid Lawson ad-
dressed a mass meeting at the Bath Theatre
Royal, Isaac Pitman, with some friends, occupied
a box, and was evidently entertained by Sir
Wilfrid's " gay wisdom/' For some time he
was President of the Bath Temperance Society
(the parent organization of the city) and took
an active part in the Jubilee celebrations of the
Society in 1886. He was a strong supporter of
the propaganda of the Peace Society, but he does
not appear to have ever practically considered the
problem of national defence. In several societies
whose titles begin with " Anti " he took a consider-
able interest, more particularly in those which were
opposed to vaccination, vivisection, and tobacco.
A very great love of books, and a conviction
that the cultivation of a taste for reading was an
ennobling thing, led Isaac Pitman to take an active
part in a movement for providing the city of Bath
with a Free Library. With this object in view
a committee was formed, of which the leading spirit
was Mr. J. W. Morris, a zealous worker in many
good causes for the intellectual advancement and
benefit of his fellow-citizens. Isaac Pitman joined
BATH FREE LIBRARY 303
the committee and actively shared its labours.
A library of about nine thousand volumes, of
which two thousand were presented by Isaac
Pitman, was collected, and suitable freehold
premises were purchased by Mr. C. W. Mackillop
for a Reading and Reference Library. In this
building the library was supported for six years
by means of a small voluntary subscription, and
the experiment having successfully shown that it
could be maintained at the cost of a halfpenny
rate, the building and its contents were offered
in free gift to the city of Bath, on condition that
the Free Libraries Act should be adopted by the
burgesses, which would have involved the levying
of a rate of the amount just mentioned for the
maintenance of the institution. After much con-
troversy, the offer was rejected in 1880, and conse-
quently the library was closed. During the time
that it had been kept open experimentally Isaac
Pitman had collected at his Institute eight
thousand books with the intention of adding
them to the library as soon as it was taken over
by the city. When the project was abandoned,
he decided that he would distribute the volumes,
which he had intended to give to the citizens
of Bath, among the free libraries throughout
the Kingdom, which then numbered about one
hundred and ten. He accordingly sent out a
catalogue to all these libraries with an invitation to
them to make a selection, and in this way speedily
disposed of his collection, which included a large
304 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
proportion of useful standard works. But this
generous distribution of books by no means com-
pletes the story of Isaac Pitman's gifts of books.
From this time until the close of his life many
institutions benefited by his liberality, but special
notice of one only need be made here. Reading
in the newspapers the speech of Mr. Gladstone
at the opening of the new Hawarden Institute in
1893, Isaac Pitman made a present of three
thousand volumes to the library of the Institute.
The collection included " a large proportion of
valuable and rare works, and books to suit all
classes of readers " and, it need hardly be said,
was greatly appreciated.
Towards the close of his life Mr. Samuel Carter
Hall, the editor of the Art Journal, was a frequent
visitor to Bath with Mrs. Hall, and became on
very friendly terms with Isaac Pitman. Mr. Hall
was at this time engaged in the promotion of a
memorial to the poet Moore, who had been a
personal friend of himself and his wife, and for
whose genius he entertained high esteem. In this
project he had the cordial support of Isaac Pitman.
The poet with his family were buried in Bromham
churchyard, in Wiltshire, and the memorial took
the form of a window at the west end of the church
to " complement " a memorial window to the
poet's widow in the east end, placed there by her
nephew. The new window, which had been sub-
scribed for by two hundred friends and admirers of
" The Poet of all circles and the Idol of his own/'
MUSIC 305
was unveiled by Mrs. Hall. It represents " The
Last Judgment. " Isaac Pitman and his wife were
among those who journeyed from Bath for the
ceremony, and after the unveiling he went to the
organ and gave a rendering of Sir John Stephen-
son's setting of Moore's stirring poem, " Sound the
Loud Timbrel/ ' which had just before been recited
by Mrs. Hall. Afterwards another poem of Moore's,
" Lord, who shall bear that day," was recited.
The mention of Isaac Pitman's part in the
Moore memorial proceedings recalls his acquaint-
ance with music. In his early life, as he has told
us in a speech already quoted, he had loved the
divine art and played the flute and the piano. At
that time new music was an expensive luxury,
and those who would provide themselves with it
had to make copies of printed scores. In this
Isaac Pitman engaged with great diligence, and
there are in existence manuscript books containing
hundreds of pages of music written by him with
remarkable neatness and accuracy. When but
seventeen, he played the organ at Conigree Chapel,
Trowbridge, for a period during the absence of the
regular organist. At Bath he received lessons on
the organ from Mr. George Field. Loving vocal
music even more than instrumental, he joined the
Bath Sacred Harmonic Society, conducted by Mr
Bianchi Taylor, in which he sang bass. As the
claims of the Writing and Printing Reform more
and more engrossed his time, however, he gave up
the cultivation of his musical ability, although he
ao— (2284)
306
SIR ISAAC PITMAN
frequently attended concerts, and occasionally
wrote critiques of them for the Bath newspapers.
He had a preference for sacred music and delighted
most in the works of Handel.
In association with Isaac Pitman's musical
efforts Mr. Reed has preserved a specimen of his
work as a composer. " In his youth," Mr. Reed
says, " Isaac Pitman indulged his love of harmony
so far as to compose a hymn tune, an anthem on
Isaiah xlix. 13-17, and the following tune to be
sung to a hymn which appeared in the Bath and
Cheltenham Gazette for 26th July, 1831 : —
■± —7*
*lzr— I — ! — i=iiF3==P=q-« — L- J— L| - 5£g=gi
-3d- "*- " -*rA: -+- *s -r&
m$z
-3d +- - -&: -+- *V -&-
When the bu-sy day is done, And up-on his couch the sun
■ ■■-•■ ■!■ '■
:za:
33S
afci:S±ft
s - *
.Rests, his course of glo-ry run, Sancte Spi • ri - lus, be with me,
/?\
afciiijxg:
^
"fr*"ig ll.'^L
:~r*:
8i^=*
at
<# :^r
*+J
.-_?-.
-S! —
Sane • te Spir • it • us,
be with
me.
•y-H
-<s<-
eg
AN ANTHEM 307
SANCTE SPIRITUS.
When the busy day is done,
And upon his couch the sun
Rests, his course of glory run,
Sancte Spiritus be with me.
When the twilight shadow falls
O'er the humming waterfalls,
And zephyr unto zephyr calls,
Sancte Spiritus be with me.
When the vesper murmurs come
Through the leaf, and from the tomb,
From the sunset's crimson gloom,
Sancte Spiritus be with me.
When the moon is roaming high,
Like a seraph, through the sky,
And the one white cloud floats by,
Sancte Spiritus be with me.
When the stars, those jewels rare,
Fill with diamond-lights the air,
And comes on the hour of prayer,
Sancte Spiritus be with me.
Then when knees are truly bent,
And the hands are clasp'd intent,
And the voice to heaven is sent,
Sancte Spiritus be with me.
— H. C. Deakin.
* The anthem was arranged thus : — ' Chorus —
Sing, O heavens • and be joyful, O earth ; break
forth into singing, O mountains ; for the Lord
hath comforted his people, and will have mercy
upon his afflicted. Solo, plaintive — But Zion said,
the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath
forgotten me. Duet, for two Trebles — Can a
woman forget her suckling child, that she should
/
308 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
not have compassion on the son of her womb ?
Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Chorus — Behold, I have graven thee on the palms
of my hands ; thy walls are continually before me/
It was sung with much eclat, his brother Jacob
says, on the other side of the globe/ ' In this
country, however, it does not appear to have been
rendered. The anthem was composed at the age
of sixteen.
When the discussion on the subject of uniform-
ity of musical pitch arose out of a report of
the Committee appointed by the Council of the
Society of Arts in June, 1859, Isaac Pitman drew
up a table showing the number of vibrations of
each note in comparison with every other note
in the octave (the lowest in whole numbers), which
he published in the Phonetic Journal for 29th
September, 1860, together with an account of
the proceedings at the meeting of the Society of
Arts held to receive and discuss the Committee's
report. As every student of musical acoustics
knows, the pitch of a note depends upon the num-
ber of vibrations produced in a given time. The
C produced by a 32 ft. organ pipe (said to be the
lowest possible music note) is the result of sixteen
double or thirty-two single vibrations per second ;
the octave above, or the lowest C of a grand
pianoforte, of thirty-two double vibrations ; the
lowest C of a violoncello of sixty-four ; tenor C of
128 ; middle C of the pianoforte of 256 ; and the
C on the treble stave of 512. The intermediate
TABLE OF VIBRATIONS 309
notes are the results of vibrations represented by in-
termediate numbers, always increasing with the rise
of the pitch. Isaac Pitman's table was as follows :—
c
below
treble
stave
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
3rd space
treble
stave
c
3rd space
treble
stave
2.1
16.9
8.5
3.2
4.3
6.5
16.15
B
15.8
5.3
3.2
45.32
5.4
9.8
15.16
A
5.3
40.27
4.3
5.4
11.9
8.9
5.6
G
3.2
4.3
6.5
9.8
9.11
4.5
3.4
F
4.3
32.27
16.15
8.9
4.5
32.45
2.3
E
5.4
10.9
15.16
5.6
3.4
2.3
5.8
D
9.8
9.10
27.32
3.4
27.40
3.5
9.16
C
below
treble
stave
8.9
4.5
3.4
2.3
3.5
8.15
1.2
310 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
The table, it was explained, is to be used like
a multiplication table ; thus, lower C with G above
gives the vibrations as two to three, while the next
note D, with A above, gives twenty-seven to forty,
etc. In the chord D, F sharp, A, the vibrations
of A, to agree with the chord C, E, G, should be
forty-and-a-half instead of forty, or D should be
twenty-six and three-quarters instead of twenty-
seven. We thus see, says Isaac Pitman, a mathe-
matical demonstration of the distinction which
every musical ear feels in the perfection, or round-
ness, of the C chord, compared with the chord
of upper D, F sharp, A ; and of the difference in
quality, as it may be called, between the various
" keys," ranging from C natural, through G with
one sharp, F with one flat, D with two sharps, B
flat with two flats, A with three sharps, A flat with
four flats, and E with four sharps, etc.
Probably few men of his generation so con-
sistently lived the simple life as Isaac Pitman.
His dietary was limited to three moderate meals
per day from the fruits of the earth ; of alcoholic
liquors he never partook, and until late in life it
was not his custom even to drink tea ; he did not
smoke, and had a pronounced antipathy to the
use of tobacco by others. At the public luncheons
and banquets which he attended he never departed
from his simple vegetarian dietary, a fact over
which the gourmands present were apt to chortle, !
1 When the Lord Mayor of London entertained the Inter-
national Shorthand Congress to luncheon at the Mansion House,
VEGETARIANISM 311
>>
forgetting that with Isaac Pitman " plain living
meant a wonderful measure of bodily health and
high spirits, and total freedom from the ailments
which attend on so-called " generous living." He
was for many years a supporter and a Vice-
President of the Vegetarian Society. His expe-
rience was embodied in a letter he addressed to
The Times in 1879, which ran as follows : —
Ser, — A frend sujests tu me that I ought tu reit a leter tu
The Times, plasing mei leif-eksperiens in kontrast with the
editorial suming-up on Mr W. Gibson-Ward's vejetarian leter
in The Times ov last Thurzday. The konkluzhon areivd at iz :
" So long az no speshal kail iz tu be made on the strength, a
piurli vejetabel deiet may sufeiz." Az mei leif haz been wun
ov eksepshonal aktiviti, the fakt that it haz been maintaind on
a vejetabel deiet ought tu be known, nou that a diskushon on
deiet haz been admited intu The Times.
Mei deietetik eksperiens iz simpli this, — Abuv forti yearz ago
dispepsia woz kariing me tu the grave. Medikal adveizerz
rekomended animal food three teimz a day insted ov wuns,
and a glas ov wein. On this rejimen I woz nuthing beterd but
rather grew wurs. I avoided the meat and the wein, gradiuali
rekuverd mei dijestiv pouer, and hav never sins nown, bei eni
pain, that I hav a stumak.
Isaac Pitman's vegetarianism — he partook of a potato and a glass
of water — attracted the attention of his Lordship's Chaplain, who
wrote impromptu the following Latin epigram which he handed
to Mr. Reed : —
Vina negat ; ventri indulget non omne legumen ;
Angulus ingenio multus ubique latet,
Ast ubi jam coepit tabulas implere capaces
Verba fluunt : scriptis angulus omnis abest.
(He refuses wine, and eats only vegetables ; many angles are
to be found in his mind, but when he writes the words flow an4
every angle disappears.)
312 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
Theze forti yearz hav been spent in kontiniuus labor in
konekshon with the invenshon and propagashon ov mei sistem
ov fonetik shorthand and fonetik speling, korespondens, and
the editorial diutiz ov mei weekli Jurnal. Though siksti-feiv
[66] yearz ov aje, I kontiniu the kustom I hav folowd all
through this period, ov being at mei ofis at siks in the morning,
sumer and winter. Til I woz fifti yearz ov aje I never tuk a
holiday, or felt that I wonted wun ; and for about twenti
yearz in the ferst part ov this period I woz at mei desk fourteen
ourz a day, from siks in the morning til ten at neit, with two
ourz out for mealz. Twenti yearz ago I began tu leav of at
siks in the evening.
I attribiut mei helth and pouer ov endiurans tu abstinens
from flesh meat and alkoholik drinks. I kan kum tu no uther
konkluzhon when I see the efekt ov such ekstended ourz ov
labor on uther men who eat meat and drink wein or beer.
I hav riten mei leter fonetikali, az iz mei kustom, and shal
feel obleijd if it be aloud thus tu apear in The Times.
Eizak Pitman.
Fonetik Institiut, Bath, 27 Janiueri, 1879.
He bore somewhat similar testimony in a con-
tribution to a work entitled " Study and Stimu-
lants/' edited by Mr. A. Arthur Reade, containing
the personal experiences of many eminent men,
which was published in 1883. " From my own
experience/ ' he wrote, " of the benefits of abstain-
ing from the sedative alcohol, and the stimulants
tobacco and snuff ; and my observations of the
effects of these things on persons who indulge in
them, I have a firm conviction that they exercise a
deadly influence on the human race." Isaac
Pitman's repugnance to tobacco led him at times
to a very active campaign against the offending
THE AUTOGRAPH HUNTER 313
weed. In 1895 he addressed a circular to the
members of the Bath Town Council on the subject,
which may be quoted here as typical of his attitude
towards tobacco. " The bright days," he wrote,
" when the breezes from our hills will not be
polluted by tobacco smoke as they descend into
the streets of our beautiful city may be very dis-
tant ; but that the change will come I have no
doubt. Such a change of public opinion and prac-
tise as would permit the Council to enact a by-law
against smoking in the streets may begin by a
perusal, by the Council, of the Anti-Tobacco
literature which I have the pleasure of sending."
For the autograph hunter Isaac Pitman had
the keenest aversion. No man probably ever
wrote so many letters to unknown correspondents
as he did in shorthand on matters relating to his
system, or in reformed spelling on questions
concerning that branch of his work. But he had
a great contempt for the trifler who wrote u to
know if you would give me one of your autographs,
as I am collecting them, and should like to have
one of yours in my collection." For all such he
had prepared a printed tract which dealt in some-
what trenchant fashion with " the power of being
a nuisance." A copy of this was addressed by a
junior clerk to the autograph hunter, who, if he
was disappointed in his quest, at least received
wholesome advice on the error of his ways.
There was at different times a certain rapproche-
ment of Phonography and Phrenology, which .
314 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
probably arose from the fact that in the early part
of Isaac Pitman's career a good many people were
enthusiastic students and advocates of the two
subjects. At any rate, both were associated in the
denunciation of the Rev. E. Bickersteth, to which
reference has already been made. Isaac Pitman's
interest in Phrenology no doubt arose in the first
place from his contact with Mr. L. N. Fowler,
of the firm of Messrs. Fowler and Wells, of New
York, who was a well-known exponent of it in the
early days of Phonography. In later years he
submitted his head for examination several times,
and lastly, towards the close of his life, he was
" phrenologically examined," by Mr. James Webb,
a past President of the British Phrenological
Association, whose report was "privately printed"
in the form of a pamphlet. Mr. Webb's examina-
tion, with the aid of measuring tape and calipers,
was also a semi-interview, in which Isaac Pitman
mentioned some of the facts of his life and gave
expression to a few opinions. Mr. Webb himself
notes certain data which are worthy of repro-
duction. He found that Isaac Pitman's head
was large, which was due not only to the circum-
ference of nearly 23 in., but to the large coronal
development from the root of the nose to the
occiput of 12J in. Mr. Webb also noted the
transparency of his skin, the exceeding fineness
of his hair, and the clearness and purity of his
eyes. At the time of this examination Isaac
Pitman was in his eighty-third year,
ART 315
The investigation does not appear to have dis-
closed any appreciation for art. His brother
Benn says that " Isaac was somewhat deficient
in aesthetic taste. He was precise, orderly, metho-
dical, and clean in body and mind ; and with
a simplicity and directness of soul that we look
for only in the innocency of childhood. But he
had little appreciation of, or care for, things of
beauty, or of the fine art works/ ' Against this
criticism it is only just to Isaac Pitman to mention
his great interest in the Art Journal, and his
anticipation of a time when he should enjoy the
perusal of a set of the volumes of this magazine,
which he took much pleasure in completing and
in binding in a style befitting the artistic treasures
the volumes contained. And the testimony of
his brother Henry deserves to be quoted : " Isaac
had intense love for all things beautiful. Why
did he visit the Art Treasures Exhibition at
Manchester ? He spent many hours there
examining the pictures.,,
A point in Mr. Webb's delineation indicated
an amiable weakness. His " Caution " was large
but somewhat eccentric in action, so that there
was some likelihood of his being deceived by the
plausible, etc. Isaac Pitman was, in fact, inclined
to trust a little too readily to the truthfulness
of those who aroused his sympathy. A single
instance may be mentioned. At the time when
the feelings of the nation were excited by the
sufferings of the Poles, there came to Bath a
316 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
certain individual who described himself as a
Polish refugee. Isaac Pitman went to the trouble
and expense of printing the man's story for
circulation among the benevolent, but it was
afterwards found that the interesting stranger was
not what he represented himself to be.
One day, when the subject of this " Life "
was absent from home, an American gentleman
presented himself at his private residence and
informed the astonished maid that he was Isaac
Pitman ! Later on the two Isaac Pitmans had
an opportunity of fraternizing. Although they
were not doubles in the sense of having a personal
resemblance, they yet possessed many striking
similarities. This will be best indicated by the
reproduction of a letter which Dr. Thomas Hill,
a former President of Harvard University, wrote
to Mr. Benn Pitman, as follows : —
Waltham, Mass.,
22nd June, 1891.
I have wanted to tell you, if I have not done so, of a curious
coincidence. Professor Barber, at Meadville, told me that
when he was in Somerville, Mass., he had a parishioner named
Isaac Pitman, a very enthusiastic phonographer. This
American Pitman went to England, and while there called on
your brother Isaac Pitman. The two men had been born
and brought up on opposite sides of the Atlantic, but were of
no known relationship. But they were of the same age, of the
same name, with the same zeal for Shorthand, with the same
devotion to Swedenborg, and with the same adherence to two
or three other isms ; Professor Barber thinks that homeopathy
AMERICAN NAMESAKE 317
and vegetarianism were among them. This is, it seems to me,
a very curious set of coincidences, and would seem to indicate
the probability of mental peculiarity inherited from a common
ancestor several generations back.
It was in the early seventies that the American
Isaac Pitman visited the Inventor of Phonography.
The American namesake's death occurred on the
3rd April, 1895, and the notice of it in the American
papers led some people to suppose that the
English holder of the famous name had at that
time departed this life, an idea which was promptly
contradicted by the newspaper correspondents.
XXIV
LAST YEARS
1895-1897
On a wintry day at the beginning of 1895, when
Bath was covered with a mantle of snow, Mrs.
Sarah A. Tooley paid a visit to the city, and had
an interview with the Inventor of Phonography
at the Royal Crescent, an account of which was
soon afterwards published in The Young Man
under the title of " Sir Isaac Pitman at Home."
" Now I knew," Mrs. Tooley wrote, " that the
morrow (4th January) was the eighty-second
(third) birthday of the Grand Old Man of Phono-
graphy, and had he received me in an easy chair
by the fireside it would have seemed the most
natural thing possible on a cold afternoon in mid-
winter. Instead, I found him in his study, seated
at his writing-table immersed in correspondence,
and with no apparent thought about fire. He
rose quickly to greet me in his simple, kindly way,
and I saw that though his back was slightly bent,
and his hair and beard were white as the snow
outside, his eye was bright and keen, and his face
ruddy as a winter's apple. His speech is rapid
and clear, but he is so full of action, and has so
many things crowding in upon his mind, that it
is with difficulty he talks upon one subject for
any length of time. Small wonder that, with his
active temperament, he early discovered longhand
318
. ©f At- muVs^vuf^ortttano ©rtVrs in tJTts aistant p#rfi«n
ft' the tjiijnre whoso Qneen lias ararionsCi) lierfeiwi1 or, jjon tiie Honor of Jjjjuaik
««!>, Nsire to offer war itearti) coR«,mtn(o)tion« to tjsn on t/)t attainment of tills nvU
nieriteo lienor, ant to QtmtM flwos&otn «;t> twnoratioii fornen peiwn«ftt| «»«ii«(f
Jjfc writers of tlje system of Jftonotfrnpfji) of isfoli non <w
tiie mtwnfor. we f»v«)# special opportunities of tbunm, ant, \a,oair,n, fht nwrv-nribo
benefits wfeji yon how oonterwo on RtfnJftg, bn petfeetino, tJ)< beautiful «n> nsefnf
art with, wW ijowr nam* nnlljje for etxr w$Ku«b<
Barma, gtr (B^cshl's Wito, t>n> o/eriotts reia^, ftta,!) Hs-
tinttions how wm coHifnvi' or, manij awat mm for eminence in (tlmma.MiM,
an> art, tint we wnfure to affirm tqat fen> innentions of tins wrteMww bom *f
ecroatcr or mow lastino, benefit to mnnfenc. tW flu art wfikn R>»K remain a
motutmcjit of nour a,or,ms- on art mhidj tias. oenc so mad) to tanutate tfi? trcasnnna,
up for «i< edification , tvjiafit, sw instrortwu of hrtntr oynttuttons. Ok Wfcf, etoaaont.
ano inspirmo, wore* of tlw master intnks of tf|f oajj.
JUtf|M>a,l) trie 4wor whiff non now receive (ja> been Cona,
Mom?, an* com« to non at a patriarchal aa/, wo sincerefo hope fW ijou man
still be spare? mani) n/ars to <ii\oi) % cHstinctton ijou h>roe so nierthi(>i n»n .
0e are, )>c*r Jtrr Isaac,
.^oiirj sincere!)) .
\v*
,.&$£
{,
AUSTRALIAN ADDRESS PRESENTED IN 1894
AT THE ROYAL CRESCENT 319
to be an unmitigated nuisance, and the ordinary
method of spelling an unendurable bore. After
being in Sir Isaac Pitman's company for five
minutes, I was amazed, not that he had taught
people to write at more than two hundred words
a minute, but that he had not also invented a
' shorthand ' form of speech/'
A graphic sketch of Sir Isaac's career followed,
and then the interviewer proceeded : —
" I had been talking with Sir Isaac in his hand-
some dining-room, but I wished to see him in his
own special sanctum, and he kindly led the way
to what I should call a ' study/ but he prefers the
designation of ' office ' ; ' I do not study/ he said,
I only work.' The office is a long room, with
writing and other tables running down the centre.
At the window sits Sir Isaac at his desk ; rows of
neatly kept pigeon holes surmount his table, and
above them is a handsome testimonial in an oak
frame, presented to him by the shorthand writers
of Australia, as a mark of their appreciation of
his lifelong services to Phonography, and also as'
a congratulatory tribute to him upon his recent
knighthood. Sir Isaac jumped nimbly on to the
table and brought down the testimonial for my
inspection. Well-filled book-cases cover every
available inch of the room. Above the book-cases
are the seven cartoons of Raphael, and over the
largest book-case is a bust of Milton. Phonetic
literature lies in piles on the tables and floor, but
there is no disorder. . . . Directly Sir Isaac
enters his office it seems that he must sit down
to his table to write, and it is deeply interesting
to note the truly winged swiftness with which he
320 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
makes the signs of Phonography. He showed me
with pride a letter in shorthand from Archbishop
Walsh, of Dublin, a disciple of whom he is very
proud."*
Few indeed are the number of reformers who,
having passed their eightieth year, have still the
inclination and the strength to work for their
cause as they did in earlier years. Isaac Pitman
has this unique distinction, for it may be said
with truth that from the time he set his hand to
the Spelling Reform in the early forties until the
closing days of his life he never relaxed his efforts.
After the date of his retirement from partnership
with his sons, until the final phase of his last illness
— a period of nearly two years and a half — he
worked for the Spelling Reform with unabated
persistency, and expended more than one thousand
pounds a year in the promotion of the cause.
For the accommodation of a publishing staff his
" office " at the Royal Crescent was unsuited ;
the Phonetic Institute was too distant from his
home to permit of his personal attendance there
to supervise whatever work he had in hand.
Accordingly in March, 1895, he engaged two
spacious rooms on the first floor at No. 43 Milsom
Street, the leading business thoroughfare in Bath,
and there opened The Institute of Spelling Reform.
* The Archbishop when on a visit to Bath some time
previously had called on Isaac Pitman at the Phonetic
Institute.
A LAST VISIT 321
The new office was an easy distance from the
Royal Crescent, but as his power of walking had
greatly diminished, he availed himself of wheel-
chair conveyance when he felt that he needed this
assistance. " I have now recovered my wonted
health/' he wrote in July, " and am at my desk
as of old at six o'clock in the morning."
In the autumn of this year Isaac Pitman was
visited for the last time by his old disciple, Mr.
Reed. Fifty-two years had passed over the heads
of both of them since the latter, then a stripling
of sixteen, made his earliest visit to the first
Institute established in the city of Bath. As on
that occasion, he found Isaac Pitman at his desk
promoting the Reform with his ever-ready pen,
and around him as of old was a staff engaged in
the distribution of its literature. Mr. Reed enters
into details, and some of these may be quoted as
typical of the work which was carried on from
day to day to the end. He found Isaac Pitman in
Milsom Street superintending the distribution of
a letter and literature on Spelling Reform which
was being sent to the 28,000 members and 5,000
officers of the National Union of Teachers at a
cost of over £200. " Nothing," he exclaims,
" could be more characteristic of his marvellous
energy and patient toil. For this outlay of time,
labour, and money he will not receive a penny
return ; the only recompense he seeks being the
satisfaction of contributing to the removal of the
1 Spelling Difficulty ' which — to use his own
21— (2284)
322 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
words — ' broods like a nightmare over all branches
of education/ It was in this persistent, deter-
mined way that more than half a century ago he
sent forth Phonography into the world, and laid
the foundation for its becoming co-extensive with
the English language. His phonographic enter-
prise brought him fame and material means, both
well deserved. The latter he has, for years past,
liberally dispensed, and is still dispensing, in
furtherance of his darling project of lessening the
toils of infancy, and removing a standing reproach
from the noble English tongue. I confess that,
familiar as I am with his indomitable perseverance,
I am amazed at the energy he still displays.' '
In addition to his efforts on behalf of Spelling
Reform, Isaac Pitman manifested during these
years considerable activity in another direction.
He desired to make certain changes in Phono-
graphy, which would have had the effect of turning
the system as it exists in the present day into the
Tenth Edition of 1857, while at least one of the
proposals showed a reversion to a much earlier
edition. A protracted and strenuous controversy
arose over the project which — whatever its merits
or demerits — would without question have disas-
trously affected the progress of the art. Its
inventor did not realize that the day for making
fundamental changes in his system had passed
now that Phonography had taken its place among
educational subjects which are universally taught.
The proposals were finally submitted to a
a
THE SPELER" 323
committee of phonographic experts, and as their
verdict was unfavourable to the alterations, it
was not considered advisable to change the pre-
sentation of the system — a decision, however, in
which the originator of Phonography did not
acquiesce.
For the promotion of the projects enumerated
above Isaac Pitman in January, 1895, began the
publication of a new monthly periodical which
he named The Speler. This was designed for the
promotion of six objects, which were set forth
under the title. The first three related to the
inculcation of Swedenborgian belief and practice,
and in this association he published, under the
heading of " Reminiscences/' a full account of
his reception of the New Church doctrines nearly
sixty years before. The fourth object was Spelling
Reform, The Speler being printed throughout in
the" First Stage " style, with articles explaining or
advocating the method. The fifth object was Short-
hand, and was devoted chiefly to advocacy of the
changes he was now proposing. The sixth object
was Peace, and included matter relating to the
objects and aims of the Peace Society. The
" Reminiscences " and some other contributions
in The Speler, were reproduced in book form.
Isaac Pitman's last appearance on a public
platform in advocacy of the Spelling Reform was
at a meeting of the Bath branch of the National
Union of Teachers on 20th June, 1896, when " the
oldest British schoolmaster alive " delivered to an
324 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
interested audience a lucid address on the need
and practicability of orthographic reform.
On the 8th September, 1896, a statement
appeared in the newspapers which was received
with widespread expressions of regret wherever the
English language is spoken. It announced that
the state of health of the venerable Inventor of
Phonography was occasioning considerable anxiety
to his family. He was again suffering from
congestion of the lungs, and although in about a
month's time he was able to leave his bed, there
was no recovery of strength, and during the
autumn he gradually grew weaker. At Michael-
mas the family removed from No. 12 to No. 17
Royal Crescent, and the move was effected without
occasioning the smallest discomfort to the invalid,
who was indeed greatly interested in it. "It is
often said," it was observed in the Bath Herald at
the beginning of December, " that hope on the
part of the patient has an excellent effect, and,
if that is so, Sir Isaac possesses a very valuable
quality, for he would be the last to give way. . . .
He is, however, quite confined to his bed and
sitting rooms, which open one into the other,
and finds his daily self-imposed task of inditing a
few letters and dictating others to a clerk, all
that his strength can accomplish, and even this
sometimes occasions great exhaustion/ '
Throughout his last illness the serenity and
cheerfulness of mind displayed by Isaac Pitman
made a striking impression on his many friends.
NO. 17 ROYAL CRESCENT, BATH
PRESENTATION TO BATH 325
His increasing bodily weakness was felt by the
veteran worker, but it was not a theme of com-
plaint, or of despondency. Writing to his brother
Henry at this time he said, - ■ I must expect a
continual decrease of strength until the heart gives
its last pulsation, and the angelic messengers who
wait on the dying draw out the spiritual body
from this one. Then I shall have a sound heart,
and get to work in my new sphere of liie.,, On
his 85th birthday, on the 4th January, 1897, he
was in excellent spirits, but being very feeble, he
was wheeled in an armchair into the sitting room
adjoining his bedroom, where many friends visited
him to offer sympathetic congratulations. The
day was wintry, and on grasping the hand of
one of his visitors the veteran observed that the
weather must be cold : " They take so much care
of me/' he added, alluding to the warmth of the
room, " that I am not aware of the cold out of
doors." After his birthday increasing weakness
gave to Isaac Pitman unmistakable warning that
his earthly career had almost run its course. He
arranged for the January issue of his periodical,
and he then performed the last public act of his
life, by presenting through Mr. J. W. Morris, a
valuable collection of works of reference to the
Bath Corporation, which had at that time realized
one portion at least of the scheme for which he
had worked with Mr. Morris in earlier years, by
establishing a Free Reference Library in the
Municipal Buildings.
326 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
His death occurred at ten minutes to eight
o'clock on the morning of Friday, 22nd January,
1897 ; he was free from pain, and conscious
almost to the last. On the eve of the final
summons he had simply and touchingly described
his end in a message he entrusted to the Rev.
Gordon Drummond, at that time the Minister of
the New Church at Bath, which was in these
words : — -
" To those who ask how Isaac Pitman passed
away, say, Peacefully, and with no more concern
than in passing from one room into another to take
up some further employment."
XXV
PUBLIC TRIBUTES
His long illness had prepared Isaac Pitman's
many friends and disciples for the inevitable end,
but to numbers of those who had been in frequent
communication with him till within a day or two
of his death, there seemed a sense of unreality in
the announcement. Could it be true that the
hand of the unwearied worker in the cause of brief
writing and spelling reform, and of many move-
ments designed for spiritual or social amelioration,
was for ever still ? The Press of the country
which told the story of his life and gave its estimate
of his work left no room for doubt. Most of those
who dealt with his career in the newspapers were
writers of Phonography, and there were here and
there indications that they felt the loss of one
whose art had aided them so much as though it
were that of a personal friend. From all parts of
the world, from individuals and from societies,
expressions of sympathy reached Lady Pitman
and her sons.
The funeral service was held at the New Church,
Henry Street, Bath, on Wednesday morning,
27th January, and was attended by the Mayor of
Bath (Mr. G. Woodiwiss) and a large and repre-
sentative company of the citizens of Bath. After
the service the body was conveyed to Woking for
327
328 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
cremation, in compliance with the following
direction left by Isaac Pitman : " I desire that on
my departure to the spiritual world my body may
be cremated, as a more wholesome and more
pleasant manner of disposal than burial in the
earth/' There was on the following day (Thurs-
day) a service in the hall attached to the Woking
Crematorium, which was conducted by the Rev.
J. Ashby (President of the New Church Confer-
ence) and the Rev. Gordon Drummond. After
cremation, the ashes of the departed were pre-
served in a casket of bronze, which is in the keeping
of his family.
Simultaneously with the proceedings at Woking
a large congregation assembled at a Memorial
Service at the New Church, Argyle Square,
London, which was conducted by the Rev. A.
Faraday. A similar Memorial Service was held
at the Bath Abbey Church, and was attended b}'
the Mayor and a number of leading citizens.
From the pulpit of the venerable Abbey Church,
the then Rector of Bath, now Bishop of Sheffield
(Dr. Quirk), had on the previous Sunday morning
paid an eloquent tribute to the departed, and
had spoken of his career as an illustration of
self-sacrifice.
Isaac Pitman's system is his best memorial, but
record must here be made of honours paid to his
memory. The Corporation of the City of Bath
marks with suitable mural tablets the dwellings of
celebrities of the historic past, but on 15th July,
MEMORIALS
329
1901, it placed on the house where Isaac Pitman
died the first tablet erected to a worthy well-known
to the majority of those who assembled at the
MEMORIAL TABLET PLACED BY THE BATH CORPORATION
ON NO. 17 ROYAL CRESCENT, BATH
unveiling ceremony, which was performed by
Mr. Arthur W. a Beckett (President of the Institute
of Journalists).
Directly after the death of the Inventor of
Phonography a movement was initiated with a
view to the provision of a permanent national
memorial. Twelve hundred friends and admirers
in all parts of the world contributed, and it was
decided that the memorial should take the form
of a portrait in oils. The work was undertaken
by Mr. Arthur S. Cope, A.R.A., who produced a
portrait universally acknowledged to be an ad-
mirable likeness. A photogravure from this por-
trait forms the frontispiece of the present volume.
In July, 1908, the Memorial Committee offered
330 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
the portrait to the Trustees of the National
Portrait Gallery, London, by whom it was
accepted. It is hung in Room XVIII, the central
corridor on the first floor.
In the many estimates of the life work of Isaac
Pitman which appeared in the Press of the world
at the time of his death, there was no truer observa-
tion than that of the Cologne Gazette — representa-
tive of German opinion — that in the two directions
of stenography and phonetic spelling " he must be
reckoned among those who have exercised an
unusually great and happy influence upon their
race." An American estimate was expressed at
a somewhat earlier period by the Rev. Edward
Everett Hale, who in remarking on the gratitude
due to Isaac Pitman from the English speaking
race, pointed out that " the step forward in written
language, which was due to his ingenuity, his
science, his steadfast perseverance, is a step which
marks, not only the literature of our time, but its
commercial transactions, its mechanical work, and
quite as directly its scientific activity/ '
A moment's reflection will show that Isaac
Pitman's achievement is unique, and that its
success has been phenomenal. The majority of
the systems of English shorthand have passed into
oblivion, or are practised only by a few, while the
method of writing for which the world is indebted
to his genius has come into universal use. In
the United Kingdom, except in the most thinly
populated parts, it is everywhere taught ; it is
A UNIVERSAL SYSTEM 331
practised in Africa, wherever the English language
has penetrated ; in India votaries of the art are
found from Colombo to the Himalayas ; in Australia
Phonography has been taught and practised as
long as in the old country. Across the Atlantic we
find the method held in high esteem both in
Canada and in the United States, and universally
employed ; in South America it is in general
use in Spanish adaptations. What is said of
the British Empire may be said of Pitman's
Phonography — the sun never sets upon it.
To an age which appreciates time and labour
saving inventions Isaac Pitman's shorthand
appeals with especial force. But to his strenuous
advocacy of the much needed reform in our spelling
it has been comparatively indifferent. Some day,
and possibly sooner than anticipated, the reform
of our orthography will become a practical ques-
tion. When that time arrives the lifelong labours
of Isaac Pitman in this direction will not have
been in vain.
332 SIR ISAAC PITMAN
(From The Literary World.)
IN MEMORIAM.
Sir Isaac Pitman.
Say, Mercury is dead ! He whom the gods
Deputed to the task of teaching men
The way to quicken thought, to give it wings,
And bind the broken fragments of discourse.
Not in this age shall honour due be paid
To him who more than most helped to advance
The human race along the paths of peace.
Succeeding generations will proclaim
With clearer voice the victory he won —
Will rank him higher than the men who slew
Their fellow-men in thousands on the field,
Or grabb'd at honours in a Party's cause,
With self the sole objective unconfessed.
F.
APPENDIX I
A REPRINT OF " STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND."
By Isaac Pitman.
(1837).
SHORT-HAND,*
FOUNDED ON
"WALKER'S PRINCIPLES OF ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION."
INTRODUCTION.
{. That Short-hand is an invaluable acquirement, every one
practically possessed of it is convinced ; and without making one's
iclf liable to the charge of arrogancy, it may be asserted, that
the person who makes a regular use of it, is raised almost as
high above the individual who knows only long-hand, as the
man of science with the powers of steam at his beck, is above the
common labourer. In this " Introduction " we shall speak of
the art apart from any particular system ; we shall show in its
proper place the excellency of this system with regard to writing
by sound, and how former Stenographers have failed here ; also,
that though it is capable of expressing by a single mark every
sound in the language, pure or mixed, it is at the same time
the plainest practical plan of putting pen to paper for the production
of peerless poems or profound and powerful prose for the press or
for private pursuits, ever published. As some of our readers will
not go beyond the " Introduction," we are anxious to set before
them ' at once the beauty and simplicity of the system here
recommended to their notice. In plate 2, at the right hand
corner, are some Short-hand " Examples ; " they will find the
above alliterative sentence written in the first three lines, from
1 a to 3 g.
2. The thousand advantages accompanying the practice of this
art, and the power of usefulness which it gives, it is impossible
to enumerate here. Two or three only shall be specified. First.
In literature you may make extracts at little expense of time and
paper, from books which cannot be obtained, either because of
* Facsimiles of the plates which accompanied this work are given between
pp. 34 and 35 ante, and a facsimile of the cover faces p. 40.
333
334 APPENDIX I
their high price or scarcity. Second. Every composer finds
that frequently his thoughts outstrip his pen, and many embryo
ideas perish as soon as they are conceived, there being no means
for their delivery according to our present circuitous mode of
writing. Here Short-hand steps in, and adds a sevenfold celerity
to writing, enabling it to keep pace with invention, and by its
reflex power quickens the conception and delivery of future
thoughts. Third. It is a short way of keeping copies of letters
and memoranda of all important events. You want to write to
your friend — and you have enough on the tip of your tongue just
now to fill a sheet. Get your letter-book, and make your thoughts
appear in dots and strokes ; while doing it you will be thankful
that you can save all that which, without the assistance of
Short-hand, would evaporate ; and you will need no other proof
of the last-named advantage. At your leisure transcribe it in
long-hand, and post it. This is the writer's constant practice.
To the clergy, to barristers, and all who attend courts of law, to
journalists and travellers, the science is invaluable ; and when
fairly written, it is more easily read than long-hand. The
fourth advantage is so well known and appreciated, that it shall
be merely named — taking down lectures, speeches, and sermons,
either in full, or according to their heads and divisions. Speaking
in a general way, without Stenography, there would be no
reporters — without reporters, no newspapers — without news-
papers, no readers — and without readers, England would be
thrown back two or three centuries in the march of civilisation.
Fifth. By the practice of Short-hand there is a great saving of
time. A Stenographer can accomplish in eight or ten minutes,
(according to his proficiency,) what would occupy him an hour
if he were ignorant of it. The amazing increase of power, and the
additional means of doing good, which may be calculated upon,
under this head, are incredible. Take a very common case.
Suppose a man, who, in addition to his daily avocation, employs
an hour a day in composing books for the instruction and benefit
of mankind ; with Short-hand he is able to write six times as
much as by common hand ; and there is no doubt that his
inventive powers will keep pace with his pen. He need not
transcribe it himself, this may be done by a school-boy. Esti-
mating then that he spends fifty years of his " threescore years
and ten " in this work (which it is very likely will be productive
of more good to the community than his manual labour during the
remaining part of the day) he accomplishes in his life the work
of 300 year3 ! Rea(Jer_ „ Persevere...
STENOGRAPHY.
3. The name of this science is derived from two Greek words,
stenos, short ; and graphe, a writing. Common writing enables
APPENDIX I 335
us to make our thoughts appear on paper ; Stenography or
Short-hand does the same, with one seventh of the time and
trouble ; and, according to this system, with seventy times seven
as much consistency.
The strange title prefixed to this system, " Stenographic
Sound-hand," may perhaps require a little explanation. It is a -
system of Short-hand, shorter than any practical system yet published / I
and the words are written exactly as they are pronounced. Systems '
of short-hand that depend for their existence upon staves like
music, or even on a single line, by which the letters have a three-
fold power of expressing different words above, on, or below the
line, seeing that short-hand is generally written without lines,
and without the possibility of getting any, such systems are
certainly practicable, but they are not practical ; and this is the
highest censure that can be passed upon them. Systems contain-
ing letters of different sizes, or the same size more or less curved,
are equally objectionable.
4. Every language is composed of two kinds of sounds. The
first class is formed simply by opening the mouth to a greater or
less degree, and making the voice to issue. These are called
vowels, or vocal sounds, as e, o. Sometimes two of them coalesce,
as e, oo, forming u, or au, e, in boy. These are called diphthongs,
or two sounds. Those of the second class cannot be formed unless
a vowel be joined to them. Their pronunciation consists in
pressing together different parts of the mouth, such as the lips, the
teeth, the tongue, the palate, etc., and making a vowel sound
either before or after the concussion of the organs, as b, which
is made by a pressure of the lips, and impelling the breath against
them ; still there is no sound till the vowel e is heard. P is
produced in the same way, by a brisker appulse of the organs.
In sounding m the vowel is heard first, then the lips close as
for b, and the sound is continued through the nose. These
letters are called consonants, that is, letters sounding with others.
It is neither necessary nor possible here to enter into an ex-
amination of all the letters, as to their names and manner of
formation ; this is already well done in the work mentioned at
the head of these remarks ; our object is merely to put them down
on paper, in the simplest and most expeditious form possible.
5. Two of the consonants, called liquids or melting letters,
namely, / and r, possess the peculiar privilege of coalescing with
the others without the intervention of a vowel : so that the two
are pronounced as one. Example : the word bless is pronounced
by closing the lips and forcing the breath against them for b ;
then placing the tip of the tongue to the gums of the upper teeth
for / ; and causing both to be enunciated in the following vowel, e,
sounded as a. All this is done as quickly, and with as little effort
as if it were only a single letter ; s closes the sound, and completes
the word. L unites with five letters in this manner, and r with
336 APPENDIX I
nine, and there are thousands of words in which these combinations
occur. There are also a few others which may be seen in Plate 1.
6. To every utterance of the voice forming a vowel or diph-
thong, and every consonant, single or double, we have here given
a simple mark. The vowel and diphthongal sounds are written
according to the order of nature, beginning with the simplest,
requiring the least opening of the mouth, e (heard in see). A
wider opening makes a (say) . The next sound in order is a (mar)
[Note a.] By expanding the organs a little more the broad
German a (all) is produced. This sound is expressed by ait.
Contracting the sides of the mouth a little, o (no) is formed, and
by bringing the organs into a round shape, we have oo (do, too).
These six vocal sounds have corresponding short ones. The
diphthongs are i, u, oi, and ou, which being mixed sounds cannot
be shortened. That the short sounds of i and u are miscalled so
will appear by and by. / is composed of a e, u is e oo, oi is au e,
and ou is au oo, pronounced as quickly as possible. What are
commonly called diphthongs and triphthongs, as oa in boat, eau
in beauty, are so only to the eye.
7. The Short-hand marks for these letters, are as simple and
as orderly placed as their sounds. The first three are made by
a dot, placed at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the
consonant with which it is associated. The next three, which
are of a broader sound, have the dot made broad, that is, a short
stroke. Three of the diphthongs have a curve, or half of a small
circle, and the other a small angle. The " wheel-about " shape
of these four corresponds very well to their " turn-about " sound ;
and if the language should ever become receptive of two more
such, we have angular situations for them. These marks must
point in that direction which renders them most conspicuous.
A long vowel is made with a heavy dot or stroke, and a short
vowel by a light one. With respect to situation, the places are
counted downwards with perpendicular and leaning down strokes ;
from left to right with horizontal letters ; and upwards with h,
I, r, and y. Though s may be made up or down, as expedition or
beauty of conjunction may dictate, let the vowels' places be always
counted downwards when it stands without another consonant
in a word. In other situations it must follow the general rule.
8. The correct sound of these six long vowels, six short ones,
and four diphthongs, which are all that are to be found in the
language, will be understood from these words, which are written
in the examples, plate 2, (3h..4 i). Tea tin, pay pet, father fat,
daw dot, show shut, coo could, fine, duke, boy, vow. All these
sounds may be discovered in the following sentence : " Fear
thou the Lord in thy youth, hate and avoid evil, love and pursue
good, and so walk in the paths of life." This is pronounced,
and according to our system would be written in full, thus :
Fer thou THa Laurd en thi yodth, hat and avoid Svl lov and porsu
APPENDIX I 337
good and so wauk en tha paTHz auv lif (5 a.. 7 C.). [b]. There
are very few words in our language whose sound is composed
of the sound of the letters ; and to surmount the difficulty of
acquiring a proper pronunciation is the most arduous task in
ascending the hill of knowledge, especially when we remember
that it must be done in youth. Stenographers have endeavoured
to remedy this evil, and have directed their pupils to spell as
they pronounce. This has been attended to generally, with
respect to the consonants, but they have made no distinction
between the vowel in pate &• pat, hall & hat, seat & set, pine &> pin,
bony & bonny, tune 6- tun [c]. In these pairs, besides the differ-
ence in the length of the vowels, the sound of the long one is in
no case the sound of the short one. By sound hand, then,
we mean where every vocal utterance in the language has its mark,
which mark is never used to express any other sound. It is hoped
that now the reader will understand our meaning in saying, that
in this Stenographic Card the English language is written as
spoken, a custom professed, as we have observed, by all short-
hand-writers, but practised hitherto by none. To produce only
one instance of their inconsistency, they dispense with w^yas
vowels, and yet write them for au in saw, oi in boy, &c. In this
system these two letters must never be used except when they
begin a syllable. Some words, former stenographers have been
utterly unable to write Ex. : anguish would be transformed into
an-gish, and it might be read an-jish in those authors who do not
thicken g for ;' ; to say nothing at present of the impropriety of
considering these letters relatives. The word is written in this
system by three simple marks, ang-gwish, as it is pronounced, (7 f).
This observation, however, does not properly belong to this
paragraph.
9. We come now to consider the consonants. It will be seen
in our alphabet that the sharp and flat letters / v, k ga, p b, s z,
t d, ch j, sh zh, 6- th th, are made with one mark for each pair,
the only difference between them is, that in pronouncing the last
of each pair there is a greater pressure of the enunciative organs
than in sounding the first. This is very properly denoted on
paper by a pressure of the pen. That the same organs, and in
the same position, are required for their utterance, needs no
other proof than the pronunciation of the following words :
fowl vowel ba/A baTHe
cap (kap) gap wafer waver
pear bear class glass
dose doze plush blush
tear dear muscle muzzle
cheer jeer try dry
rash rasure (pronounced razhur) chump jump
mesh measure (pronounced mezhur) ether eiTHer
32 — (3284)
338 APPENDIX I
It has been objected that it is difficult to make the heavy
strokes for the flat letters. This is admitted when they are
written with a black-lead pencil ; and as to b and ga, with their
compounds, when written with a pen. (The pupil must use the
latter.) [Messrs. Mordan & Co. will confer a favour on the public
by producing an ever-flowing pen, similar to their ever -pointed
pencils.'] But even if every flat letter were made with a light
stroke, the inconvenience in reading would be very trifling.
Ex. including them all, " Get wisdom, knowledge, and virtue ; and
prize them as the greatest treasure. ' ' If this sentence were written
under circumstances which prevented the making of heavy
strokes, (as black lead pencil on ivory,) we should read it thus,
" Puy wistom, knowlech ant firtue, and price them as the kreatest
treshur." No one could mistake the meaning of one word here.
Stenographers have always classed two of these flat letters, v and *,
under the same marks as their respective sharps. They have
taken no notice of two others, flat, sh, (zha) and th (dha pronounced
like they) , writing the last syllable of mission (mishun) , and vision
(vizhun), alike ; and also using the same marks for breath and
breaTue ; and they have misclassed the letters of two other
pairs, namely, ga (get) with j (jet), and k (keen), with q (queen).
Certainly it is better to have a choice band of eight men, with
regular pairs of arms, &c. right and left, than only six, two of
whom have only one arm, one leg, &c, and two more are monsters
with a leg sticking out at the shoulder, and an arm protruding
from the thigh !
10. No apology can be necessary for the use of double letters,
(see the latter part of Plate 1). In words which require more
than one motion of the pen, they are used more frequently than
the single letters of which they are composed. We have taken
all that occur without a vowel between them, and which are
consequently pronounced with one effort of the organs. Such
combinable consonants have as good a claim to a place in the
alphabet as q 6- x. The small vowels (♦ & e) placed among them,
[a & e) with the single aspirated dentals, are to assist in pro-
nouncing each as one syllable. In placing q (kw) and x (ks) in
this class, which is their proper place, it was necessary to alter the
sound of the former a little, because of its flat gwe. It has now
the same sound as when pronounced in a word ; this should be
the case with every letter. Whenever the short-hand letter g is
mentioned, call it ga that it may answer to k. Whenever h is
pronounced, call it he, like the personal pronoun. Perhaps some
of our readers who are not accustomed to aspirate this letter
in their reading and conversation, will pronounce it like the vowel
e. Such persons must seek oral instruction on this point. The
name aitch for a forcible aspiration is only one of many misnomers
in the English alphabet. The rectification of the others, however,
is left for another time. Without this alteration we should call
APPENDIX I 339
the first consonant in cheer by the same name as the first in
hear f
11. Directions. Write every word according to its true
pronunciation, and follow " Walker " till you have a better
guide [d] . Be exact in the shape of the letters ; f ox p not leaning
sufficiently would be t. To assist in acquiring their formation,
construct a diagram like the one in Plate 2, several times, till
you have a tolerably good circle, by making the box of the wheel
first, then the spokes, next the circles, inner and outer. Make it
without ruler or compasses. With the exception of q and x, all
the letters which succeed each other in the language, can be
joined by their respective shorthand marks, without taking off
the pen. Conjoin the whole thus : bb, bd, bf, &c. to bzhr (7 g..i.).
Then db, dd, df, &c. (8 a..c). The loop s is joined in this manner,
sp, st, sf, sk, sr, sm, (8 d..i.). The pupil may also run through
the changes with the stroke s, making it up or down, according
to convenience, sb, sd, sf, sg, (9 a..d.). Further directions concern-
ing this letter will be given n. 12. The hooks of a few of the
double letters must, in joining, be made less bent ; the worst
examples are rbl, pkr, (9 e. f.). Repeat a letter thus : ff, mm,
prpr. (9 g..i.). Many of the combinations thus obtained cannot
be pronounced, but it will be well to do the whole for the sake
of exercise, and to imprint the forms of the letters upon the
pupil's mind. When the conjunction of all the consonants is
thus accomplished, begin to write sentences ; and here particular
care must be taken in ascertaining the exact sound of every word .
The greatest difficulty will be to discover the vowel sounds, so
as to write them according to the natural order in which they are
placed in this system. The difficulty will arise from this circum-
stance. By education and custom we are taught to call the short
sound of a short e or short a ; thus : mate met, hate hat, and so
with every other vowel, the short sound of it is found under another
letter, Ex. seen sin, boat but, raw rot, pool pull. The reader will be
assisted here if he remember to write the second vowel in this
list for the first ; it is Walker's notation :
i
u
00
oi
ou
After a time it will be found that it is much easier to write by
sound in every case, than according to what is called by some
misnomer, orthography. Persons who have never learned any
1
Fate
a
i
pine
i
i
tube
2
2
2
far
a
pin
e
tub
3
i
3
fall
aii
no
6
bull
4
a
32
fat
a
move
66
oil
i
3
3 3
me
e
nor
aii[e]
pound
2
4
met
a
not
aii
340 APPENDIX I
system of short hand, and are inclined to make an attempt at
this, which is strongly recommended to them, should at first
write every word in full, that is, as it is pronounced in good
society. An example both of spelling and writing is given in n. 8.
To adduce another instance, the Great Precept might be written
by a beginner thus : . " Thou shalt 16 v THa Laiird THi Gaud wgth
aul THi hart and THi nabor az THisalf." After a little practice,
many of the vowels may be omitted ; and every letter may repre-
sent two or three of the commonest words, and sometimes a prefix,
or an affix. To the double letters only one word is appropriated,
(see Plate 1.). The same example written by this rule would
be reduced from 49 marks to 22.
12. Short-hand Rules. When a letter has two forms, which
is the case with I, r, s, & ng, the first is for joining, and the other
is to be used when such a letter stands alone for an alphabetical
word, or without another consonant in the word ; Ex. of their
use in the three cases ; least, all, oil ; right, our, raw ; case, us,
see ; among, (ng is not used for an alphabetical word, but as a
representative for into and unto) owing. (10 a.. 11 b.) In these
circumstances the second mark must be used. Whenever /
occurs with no other consonant following but /, r, and s. Ex.
loll, liar, lose, also, toiler, lolls, laurel, liars, loser. R with only
/, r, s, and ng. Ex. real, error, rose, ring, roller, rails, roaring.
S when repeated, when it is the only consonant in a syllable,
and when followed by / or ng only. Ex. assize, mercy, ascend,
soul, sing. Also use the stroke s whenever the other would cause
ambiguity [f ] or hinder the freedom of the writing ; in all other
cases the loop s will be found exceedingly convenient. Ng must
be made with the second mark when preceded by p, sp, and y
only ; and when it does not end a word. Ex. paying, sapping,
young, anguish, ringlet, beings, flinging. The pupil is requested
to write all these words according to the rule. The small ng
may be turned in any direction, it is merely a hook at the end
of the preceding letter. The large ng is a thick n, but as this letter
is never made heavy in a word for any other purpose, there can
be no mistake here. Spr, sir, and skr, may be made with one
stroke, thus: sprain, strong, screw (11 c.e.). This will not
interfere with sp, st, and sk, because when these letters begin a
word, the loop is placed on the other side. (See n. 1 1 .). 5 before
and w, with which it will combine, may be made with the
oop or stroke. The former plan is the best. Ex. splinter, swing,
1 1 f. .12 a.) . It may also be written with the loop s, and separate
Jetters for p and /. When s comes before a double letter in the
middle of a word, the double letter must generally be divided, or
the long s made. The first is the preferable plan. Ex. principle,
nstruct, (12 b..f.). Possible, toaster, whisper, Sec. may be written
with both the loop and double letter, (12 g..i.) X is nothing
more than a stroke across the letter preceding or following. Ex.
Appendix I 341
maxim, sticks, (13a. b.) Q is a stroke adjoined to the letter
preceding or following. Ex. Queen, request. (13 c. d.) Both
letters should be made with a heavy mark when they have
the flat sound. Ex. exist (egzist), languish, (13 e. f.) Let
not / run into m. Ex. lame, (13 g..i.) Nor m into shr, ch
into n, th into ch. Write beyond thus : (14 a.) Y, which is of
difficult conjunction, seldom occurs except when beginning a
word. When several down-stroke characters succeed each
other, as in statistics, (14 b.) take off the pen and begin again.
The beauty and lineality of the writing is thus preserved. This
trifling inconvenience of stopping, in about one word in a hundred,
which besets every system that has been, or can be invented,
as it cannot be cured must be endured. Incipient vowels must
commonly be written. Ex. open, alter, altitude, (14 c.e.) Without
the first vowel these words might be read, pen, letter, latitude.
A vowel between two consonants may be made either after the
first or before the last. Ex. mood, tune, (14 f..i.) The rule is this :
for «, oo, and oi, place the mark before the last, and put the other
vowels generally after the first mark. When a long vowel comes
between the double letters, as o between b and / in bolster,
between p and r in pardon, always write the single letters. When
double letters occur, with a short vowel between them similar
in sound to the names of the letters in the alphabet, they may
be used without scruple, as per in permit, pur in pursuit, ter in
clatter, cal in methodical. Prefixes and affixes must not be joined
to the other part of the word. Ex. transact, wisdom, (15 a. b.)
Any alphabetical word or representative may be used for this
purpose. Ex. childhood, without, forward, (15 c.e.) Prefixes and
affixes need never be used except there is an advantage gained by
it, either as to beauty or brevity. Ex. the words distemper,
comprehend, satisfaction, and indecision, should be written with
them ; and discover, common, motion, decision, without them.
Make a plural affix by adding the loop s. Ex. professions, con-
tents, (15 f. g.) A prefix or an affix may be made in the middle
of a word. Ex. incomplete, missionaries, (15 h. i.) Alphabetical
words, when nouns, may express the plural number, and when
verbs, the third person singular by adding the loop s only. Ex.
thoughts, comes, (16 a. b.) The second person singular of the
verb may be written as the first, without any danger of mistake.
Ex. Thou may est, (16 c.)
Write figures as usual ; high numbers may be abbreviated
thus : 300—60,000—300,000, (16 d..f.) Ordinal numbers, with
a dot above the figure, Ex. second, third, (16 g. h.) Adverbial
numbers, with a dot under, Ex. fourthly, (16 i.) ■ Numerals may
occasionally be written as words, because they have a plural
number, and the word one has a possessive case ; it should be
written won. Put proper names in long-hand. Underline
important words with a zig-zag line. Important sentences may
342 APPENDIX I
have a straight line. See examples in the first " Rule of Life,"
n. 13. Stops as usual, except the period. Ex. comma, semicolon,
colon, period, exclamation, interrogation, irony [g] parentheses,
brackets, hyphen, quotation marks, (17 a..h.] . Contractions of
long words may be made by adjoining one letter to another, or
by making a comma under. Ex. notwithstanding, nevertheless,
indispensable, incomprehensible, satisfactorily, (17 i..l8 d.)
According to one of our rules, this first plan would frequently
make q, but as this letter never ends a word, there is no danger
of ambiguity here. Another method of saving time is to join little
words together. Ex. as it is said, there are, (18 e. f.) Theological,
parliamentary, and law phrases, may be written by the initial
letters of the words joined to each other. Ex. kingdom of heaven,
His Majesty's ministers, practice of the court, (18 g..i.) These aids
will enable a writer to follow the swiftest speaker in the world
that is worth following. Should other methods of abbreviation
be required by a slow writer, they may be found in short-hand
treatises. It must be remembered that contractions are a license
granted to reporters only. To conclude these rules (which cannot
be lengthened without producing tedium, nor abbreviated without
causing obscurity), give the letters their full shape, and in com-
mencing, make them a quarter or even half an inch in length ;
the size may be reduced gradually to one-eighth or less, and if
they be properly formed, and sufficient vowels inserted to give the
sound, it is impossible that mistakes can arise. Let the reader
practise the system, and he will find all difficulties vanish as he
proceeds ; and with reference to one of the " babbling speeches
of this babbling earth " — the English, which is not the most
harmonious or consistent — he will be able to sing as he proceeds,
" For every evil under the sun
There is a remedy, or there's none ;
If there is one, try to find it,
If there's not one, never mind it."
13. The Lord's Prayer. Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name : thy kingdom come : thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven : give us this day our daily bread :
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors : and lead
us ; [h] not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Mat. vi. 9-13.
Psalm 100. 1. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye
lands. 2. Serve the Lord with gladness ; come before his
presence with singing. 3. Know ye that the Lord he is God :
it is be that hath made us, and not we ourselves : we are his
people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4. Enter into his gates
with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise ; be thankful
unto him, and bless his name. 5. For the Lord is good, his
mercy is everlasting ; and his truth endureth to all generations.
APPENDIX I 343
Rules of Life. First. To read often, and to meditate well
on the Word of God. Second. To be always content and
resigned under the dispensations of Providence. Third. Always
to observe a propriety of behaviour, and to preserve the conscience
clear and void of offence. Fourth. To obey that which is
ordained ; to be faithful in the discharge of the duties of our
employment ; and to do everything in our power to make our-
selves as universally useful as possible. Always to remember
" The Lord will provide."
14. These three examples are written according to this system
in the second plate. Compare them word by word with the short-
hand copy. This will explain much more than several pages of
letter-press. It proves the superiority of this system, that these
specimens are written with 377 motions of the pen ; while Byrom's
takes 555, Taylor's 458, and Lewis's 508 [i.] Add to this, that
by neither of these authors, nor by any other, can the proper
sound of the words be written ; and that here there are no
arbitrary marks either used or needed ; but every word is written
exactly as it is pronounced, with the common allowance of leaving
out some vowels, and making every letter represent one, two, or
three words. The average of the whole alphabet is less than two
to a letter. Stenographers have hitherto split their science
between a correct pronunciation of the language, indicated by
simple and infallible marks ; and the anomalies of long-hand, in
which " a perfect knowledge of the letters affords no clue to the
sound of the word." To attain proficiency in writing this, or
any other system, the pupil must practise half an hour, and, if
possible, an hour a day ; and read over twice everything he writes.
His constant motto must be, " persevere." He should keep out
the elbow, and for short-hand, use short lines. In this system,
when written by a reporter, there will be about as many strokes as
syllables ; consequently the pen can easily keep pace with the
tongue ; and if our language were written and printed by it, the
labour and expense of education would be reduced 50 or 80 per
cent. We should then teach a child to call medicine f i z i k (or
more properly / e z I k), fizik, instead of pe p, aitch h, wi y, es s,
i for i, see c, physic !
15. The writer is preparing a " Manual of Stenography,"
including an analytical sketch of the English language, and the
application of it to short-hand characters ; also a scheme of an
alphabet according to nature ; which shall be published another
day if it is worthy of publication ; to ascertain which, this card,
containing the principles, is thrown out as a feeler. The system
required many schemes, and many experiments with the language,
before it was brought to its present state. Forcible reasons could
be given for the selection of every mark to express the sound to
which it is appropriated ; some of them have appeared to former
stenographers, consequently it will be found that the letters /,
344 APPENDIX I
m, n, r and t, are the same here as in some other systems. Let
the attentive reader examine every letter, remembering that the
commonest sounds must have the simplest marks ; and that those
letters which frequently succeed each other, should have
characters that run into each other without an angle ; and we
presume he will discover that not one of them could be altered
to advantage. With reverence be it spoken, that the characters
appear to be adapted to the sounds, as though the circle, mathe-
matically dissected, were contrived by the Great, the Wise, and
the Benevolent Author of Nature to suit the English language ;
a dot or a stroke to a sound. The coincidence appears in its
most striking light, when we consider that there is not one sound
unexpressed ; that not another character could be introduced
without causing confusion ; and that every two or three con-
sonants that will coalesce in the beginning of a syllable, as pi,
sm, str, &c. are made with one stroke.
16. The short-hand placed above the Diagram, plate 2, is,
" This alphabet contains sixteen vowel sounds, twenty-five single
consonants, and twenty-four double ones ; total sixty-five letters,
including every vowel sound in the language, and every combina-
tion of consonants that will commence a syllable, all drawn from
this Diagram." The system must stand upon its own legs if it
stand at all ; or, to change the figure, it must roll upon its own
wheel, and if it sink into oblivion after a reasonable trial of its
capabilities, it will be because it deserves no better fate. By
the author it is practised and taught daily, without any incon-
venience arising from heavy letters ; and after eight years'
extensive use of the best system hitherto published, Mr. Taylor's
(sometimes miscalled Harding's, and lately sent forth without
any reference to Mr. Taylor's name) and an examination of many
others, he hesitates not to say, it is as good again as that. This
observation might certainly be spared for the sake of modesty,
and also with regard to those readers who have learned Mr.
Taylor's and will now give this a fair trial ; but we know well that,
with many persons, stenographic perseverance is a rare virtue ;
and the experiment, with its result, is here mentioned for their
sakes. Among the author's pupils are more than twenty boys
(in his school,) about the age of ten years ; and it may confidently
be asserted that they could not have learned so easily any other
system extant.
17. Never before were forty-nine consonants expressed by
twenty-five marks, and sixteen vowels by four marks ; all as
simple in shape as a coach-wheel ; and at the same time as expres-
sive of the thoughts and affections as long-hand, with a saving
of at least five hours out of six. And what is of more importance,
the marks are suited to the sounds, so that wherever a letter
IS RELATED TO ANOTHER, EITHER BY ORGANIC FORMATION, OR
BY BEING COMBINED WITH OTHER LETTERS, IT IS SIGNIFIED
APPENDIX I 345
BY ITS SHAPE. Still it is not sent forth as a perfect system.
It strikes out a new path, especially as to the manner of writing
the vowels. It is a wonder to the author that it is new, being
so very simple and natural. The truth is, we are come upon the
most unnatural period of the world's existence ; scarcely anything
is in the order of nature, still less in the order of heaven ; and
our language, as though partaking of the common declension (most
appropriately termed " the fall,") exhibits the sad spectacle of
having almost every word pronounced contrary to the sound of
its letters. As any change at the worst point must necessarily
be for the better ; and as the world is now beginning to experience
a wondrous change, we have the assurance that a bright period
is opening up upon us ; order will be restored ; and according
to the sure declaration of HIM who maketh " all things new,"
heaven will yet descend upon earth, and n wisdom and knowledge
will be the stability of the times." The road here struck out,
to assist in conducting to this delightful state, being new, will
require travelling and repairing to constitute it a good one ;
then, we doubt not, it will bear a comparison with any of the
numerous paths leading to the temple of wisdom. Should it be
denied that we have produced the best system of short-hand, it
must be conceded that we have produced the cheapest.
18. In conclusion. Convinced as the writer is of the unspeak-
able importance of the art of writing, and more especially of short-
hand, to man, while an inhabitant of this material world ; con-
vinced also of the superior excellency of a language written as
pronounced, above one, like the English, where the sound of the
letters is continually at war with the sound of the words ; keeping
in mind too the discoveries, the improvements, and the facilities
of every description that characterise this new age ; he thinks
he is not too sanguine in expecting, that, ere long, short-hand
will be the common hand, in which the imperishable Word of God
will exist no larger than a watch []], and be as constantly used for
the discovery and regulation of man's spiritual state, with reference
to eternity, as the pocket chronometer is for the discovery and
regulation of time with reference to the present life.
POSTSCRIPT .
We did not intend to give the translation of the two brief short-
hand sentences in Plate 1, but to leave them as an exercise of
the reader's sagacity ; but as there is a superfluous dot in one
of the words, which might cause a difficulty in reading it, it is
thought necessary to give the long-hand here. " N.B. Each letter
may represent the words, &c, placed to it." '* Pronounce each
as one syllable."
• In Plate 2, fourth line, third word, the short-hand letter /
should be w (will).
• In '•' The Lord's Prayer," haloud should be halod. This last
error exists only in some impressions.
346 APPENDIX I
NOTES .
[a] To express this sound of a, called the middle or Italian a,
we adopt the Greek alpha (a). The reader is to pronounce this
letter, then, wherever it occurs, as in far, father, which is similar
to the cry of a sheep, baa.
[b] Be careful to sound the vowels as in the preceding classifica-
tion, n. 6. According to the usual practice, a long vowel has a stroke
over it, and a short one a curve. Th (in italics), signifies the sharp
sound, and th (in capitals), the flat sound. See the reason, for
pronouncing the article the tha, in Walker's dictionary, under the
word.
[c] There is one exception to this remark. Mr. Towndrow
who, it appears, is a transatlantic stenographer, has separate
marks for the long and short vowels, but in his classification of
them, he has followed custom, as in the above pairs, instead of
following nature, as is done in this system. Mr. T.'s theory of
short-hand appears to be little known in England. After a
careful examination of it, we are led to say, that, on the whole,
it is clogged with difficulties which appear to us insuperable.
[d] The reader is earnestly requested to peruse and re^eruse
this gentleman's " Principles of English Pronunciation," prefixed
as an Introduction to his admirable "Pronouncing Dictionary."
Should he be unacquainted, we mean practically unacquainted
with this standard of orthoepy, this able exposition of the English
language, he will read the present attempt to express it in short-
hand without interest, and condemn it without scruple. From
such critics may Heaven preserve us !
[e] This third sound of o {nor), is the same as the fourth {not),
except that the hollow sound of r, necessarily lengthens the vowel
a little.
[f] To give a case of ambiguity by using the round s, ask is
written like sack, and east like seat. This is near enough for a
reporter or even for private writing ; but if ever the system
should be printed (the probabilities of which are greater than the
probabilities of long-hand, 500 years ago), one of these rules must
be added : make s with a stroke when it begins a word followed
by a vowel ; or, make s with a stroke when a word begins with a
vowel, followed by s and another consonant.
[g] Many have said that as there are notes of interrogation
and exclamation, there should be one for irony. But no writer
that the author is aware of, has given any. If this attempt to
make a smile appear on paper, conve}Ting at the same time an
intimation that the words are to be taken in a contrary sense, be
approved of, it may be adopted by the reader. The shape of the
Appendix I
347
note is something like that of a conceited puppet, with an empty
noddle.
[h] The punctuation of this petition was suggested to the
author by a friend. It appears preferable to the common mode
for many reasons, for which, however, we have not room here.
[i] The following are the particulars : —
Straight
or
curved
strokes.
Loops
Strokes
with
hooks
or dots.
Separate
dots and
marks.
Pen off
for pre-
fixes and
affixes.
Two
letters
in one
stroke.
Byrom . .
Taylor . .
Lewis
Pitman . .
458
395
368
326
86
97
38
37
24
33
84
120
71
158
68
17
32
18
23
8
18
17
In this calculation every author is allowed the full privilege
of his alphabetical words, arbitraries, &c, and when a word is
neither the one nor the other, all the consonants that are sounded
are written, and when there is but one, and a vowel, that is put.
The number of other vowels that have been counted may be seen
in the specimens, plate 2. The fairest way of judging between
the systems appears to be this : — Take the number of straight or
curved strokes, and reckon every loop, hook, dot, or taking off the
pen as equal to half a stroke. Deduct all the letters that follow
as a continuation of the preceding letter. The result is, B. 546,
T. 499, L. 464, P. 412. In n. 14 we have added the strokes to the
separate dots, &c, deducting every two strokes made as one.
In the above table Mr. Lewis's separate loops for s are counted
in the first column, because they require as much time as plain
strokes. The loops in the second column are those that occur in
conjunction.
The last column includes all double letters made by straight
strokes, as ff, tt, and such strokes as fn, nr.
[j] This is no airy imagination, but a conclusion from these
premises.
The Bible contains in round numbers 770,000 words. One of
the best editions of the Holy Word, either for the pocket or the
study is, without controversy, Mr. Bagster's " English Version
of the Polyglott Bible." The type is sufficiently large (nonpareil,
the same as is used in this card), and the paper excellent. If the
worthy publisher will accept our judgment (the work is above
our praise) we should say it i<* the best small bible in the world.
Now, by nonpareil short-hand (if the printers will excuse the
term,) fourteen lines of eighteen words each can be written in a
square inch, = 252, or in a page of two inches square, 1008 words.
348 APPENDIX 1
770 pages, therefore, would contain the Bible, and judging by the
same work as a standard, these pages would occupy three-fourths
of an inch in thickness ! Allow one-eighth of an inch all round
for margin. Here then we have the Word of God quite large
enough for reading, two and a quarter inches square, and three-
quarters of an inch thick ! As it would be advisable to have all
the proper names in long-hand, this would make the thickness
seven-eighths of an inch. Success to the publisher who may
undertake it !
APPENDIX II
THE EVOLUTION OF PHONOGRAPHY
In the narrative of the Life of Sir Isaac Pitman given in the
preceding pages, reference is made to the main features in the
development of his system of Phonography. But to students of
the art, to teachers, and to those interested in shorthand biblio-
graphy, a more minute description of the evolution of the system
will, we belieye, prove acceptable, and it is consequently here
presented. It should be explained that the changes noted are
those only which were actually made in the text-books issued in
the successive editions, no account being taken of innumerable •
suggestions and experiments for the improvement of Phonography
which were discussed from time to time in the shorthand j
periodicals, but were never incorporated in the system.
First Edition (1837). — The complete text of " Stenographic
Sound-hand " is given in the immediately preceding pages ; the
two illustrative plates appear between pp. 34-5. In this book
the consonants were given in the order of the common alphabet
in Plate 1, but they were grouped in pairs in the text of the work.
The instances in which the signs were changed in the subsequent
editions are indicated by small capital letters in the following
list—
/ b, I d, \ F, g, c/ h, V^_ j, — k, (I, — m,
w n, / p, // v (up), ° J S, \ t, \ V, f W, <f Y, ° J z.
To these were added —
I wh, V CH, f- sh. ( th, ( thee, f zh, ^ ng.
Straight letters were hooked initially for / and r, thus c — kl,
c — kr, and there were large initial hooks for [ dw and [ tw, and
forms for l shr, ) thr, ) theer, and > zhv.
The vowel scale and diphthongs were as under —
ou
ee
j aw
o
I
a
-j o t
o
U
ah
J 00
349
o
oi
350 APPENDIX II
The short vowels were not shown in the plate, but instruction
on their representation was given in the text, and was thus epitom-
ized : "A long vowel is made with a heavy dot or stroke, and a
short vowel by a light one."
The following arbitrary characters appear in Plate 1 —
kw, I gw, ~j~ ks, -j- gz, used to represent question (kw) ;
language (gw) ; except (ks) ; and example (gz) respectively.
. Writers were recommended to " join little words together "
(phraseography) .
Second Edition (January, 1840). — In Phonography (the
" Penny Plate ") the consonants were arranged in phonetic order
and paired (in accordance with a promise made by the author
in the First Edition that he would subsequently publish an
" alphabet according to nature "), while the significance
attached to some of the signs was changed, as will be seen from
the following list of consonants —
\ p, \ b, I t, | d, / ch, I ;', — k, — f» \- /r V» tr,
( th, ( thee, ° ) s, °)z, J sht J zh, f t, ^* r, *~* *»,
^ «, w ng, ~^\ h.
The consonant signs for w and y were discontinued, also* the
hooked forms for tw, dw, and ivh, and the four arbitrary characters
for kw, gw, ks, and gz.
Small initial hooks for / and r were added to curved consonants
thus : V_ fl, ^\ fr, and the thickened sign r was allotted to Ir,
the heavy sign A to hr and m was thickened thus, ^Tior mp,
while <r"s represented mr and <^^ nr.
Final hooks which add I or r were introduced read before the
stem letter, thus,
\ pi, \ Ip; I pr, \ rp; ^- fh Vo If; *\ fa *% *f>
The halving principle was introduced, thus, \ p, \ pt ;
\ b, \ bd, but with the following and some other irregular
applications :
) tn, ) dn, j chn, j< jn, S fn, "> vn, ^ kn, ~ gn, ( nt, ( nd.
Under this principle Phonography was written c — the first
APPENDIX II
351
sign "N represented phono, and the second the suffix for
-graphy.
The short vowel scale was illustrated thus
o
*
do
though different letters from those here shown were used to
indicate their significance. The following four angular double
vowels were introduced, namely,
Li
Wl,
I,
wao,
&d,
01,
four angular treble vowels,
of these characters were intended, the
to represent foreign or provincial sounds.
woi.
ou, and
wou. Some
Penny Plate " states,
The w and y series was
c|
introduced
we
way
wall
etc.,
ye
yay etc., both long and short.
yah
Third Edition (September, 1840). — The consonant representa-
tion remained the same. The vowel signs were exhibited in
tabular form with the " Single or pure vowels " at the head, thus :
Long — e, a, ah ; an, o, oo. Short — *, e, a ; o, u, oo. Under
" Double Vowels " were shown the y'and w series, and another
i series of angular signs, with some additions for foreign sounds.
There was a table of " Treble Vowels," including | wi, and a
series of fourteen signs for representing foreign and provincial
sounds. These were indicated by the sign just shown, in different'
Ej
positions, and by i yae, etc.
Fourth Edition (1841). — The termination -shon or -Hon was
represented by a tick or a curve as I .-o' The angular
double vowels were reduced to three by the omission of ao, the
angular treble vowels to two by the omission of wao and woi,
and the yae series of signs omitted altogether from the body of
the work, and placed at the end, in an Appendix devoted to
" Foreign Sounds and Provincialisms."
Fifth Edition (1842). — The sign ~^\ was allotted to v, with
/rasa duplicate sign (it was hooked c^ for rch), and the
signification of i was changed to rl. The aspirate was repre-
sented by a reversed comma, thus
he
': haw
ha
»i ho
hah
,; hoo
When
needful the aspirate mark was enlarged to the size of a consonant,
thus, C hew.
352 APPENDIX II
Intersected and Contracted Words introduced ; list of
Phraseograms given.
Sixth Edition (1844). — This edition, in the form of a " Penny
Plate," anticipated some of the improvements which were in
preparation for the next (Seventh) Edition. The sign o^ was
allotted to rl. The aspirate was now expressed by adding a dot
to the following vowel, thus, | heat.
The final hook was given the signification of n when on the left
side of a straight consonant, thus, ^N , and shn on the right side,
thus, \> . A hook at the end of any curved consonant repre-
sented n. All consonants except ng, expressed the addition of
t or d when half length.
The number of simple long vowels was increased by one and
now ran as follows :
e,
ah, j au, "j uh, •; oh, J oo.
The new vowel sign uh necessitated a similar change in the short
vowels, and the addition of the following new signs in the w and y
series, namely, m| yo and 3] wo.
Grammalogues were introduced, the first list consisting of the,
and, of, to, in, that, it, is, as, for, which, have, their, from, more,
them, shall, upon, Lord, been.
■ Seventh Edition (1845). — The double consonant Ir was repre-
sented by r and (T and rl by o-" . The sign l was adopted
as unhooked vr. The method of vocalizing consonants of the pi
series was introduced.
The termination -Hon following a curved consonant was repre-
sented by a large hook, thus, ^p nation. Loops for st and sir,
and the s-shon termination were introduced, thus \ sip, x> pstr, ^
\? ps-shon. -
From this edition the list of Arbitrary Words given in the
preceding six editions disappeared, an extended list of Gramma-
logues taking their place. Under the discontinued arrangement
each single or hooked character had, in addition to its alphabetic
name, assigned to it the representation of one or several words.
The list had been greatly reduced in 1841.
APPENDIX II 353
Eighth Edition (1847). — The use of n before the treble
consonants introduced, thus, \> inspiration. From the vowel
scale -i uh disappeared, and the sign henceforth represented a.
Ninth Edition (1852). — Consonant forms provided for w and
y, namely, \ w, r y ; also ^ for h, in place of [ ; o wl,
c-"" wr, <r^ wm, c— ' wn. The writing of a curved consonant twice
its usual size to express the addition of the heavy thr introduced.
Among the diphthongs v| is re-introduced to represent ai.
Tenth Edition (1857). — In this edition the order of the
consonants was altered as follows : k, g, t, d, ch, j, p, b, sh, zh, s,
z, th, thee, f, v, I, r, ng, n, m. The additional form / (down) was
introduced for the consonantal representation of the aspirate,
in addition to the character employed in the preceding edition.
The small final hook on the right side of a straight consonant,
or above it, as in (, and — => was assigned to the representation
of / and v, and -Hon was indicated by a large final hook attached to
a straight consonant, as lj and _o . The aspirated w was
indicated thus, a
I
The vowel scale was changed from
el
*j ah
a
to
•i a
ah
lie
with
the following explanation : " Experience has shown that the
present arrangement is more in accordance with the laws of
phonetic writing, and more convenient for the writer." Similar
changes were made in the short vowels, and the w and y series.
The diphthong ai was altered to the following form
Eleventh Edition (1863). — The following additional conso-
nant signs introduced : c^ for w, in addition to i ; <^ for y,
in addition to f ; and for h <s^ and / ; the tick h was also
used as in /—, hm.
Large initial hooks were introduced to indicate the addition
of / to curved letters and duplicate forms assigned as follows :
J (down) cJ (up) shr , 3 (down) cJ (up) shl /CO thr ;
\* * ff, V_ i fl ; c_^ nr, c_^ nl ; <r^ represented mpr. The
aspirated w indicated by a thickened hook, thus, *-*" wh, in
addition to the Tenth Edition form. The back hook for adding
the prefix in- employed in * ~\ inscribe, 4s inhabit, etc.
354 APPENDIX II
The following changes were made in the diphthongs : ! ai, i oi.
The | ah-e series of disyllabic diphthongs introduced.
Twelfth Edition (1868). — The order of the phonographic
consonants was altered as follows : p, b ; t, d ; ch, j ; k, g ;
/, v ; th, thee ; s, z ; sh, zh ; m, n, ng. Only one consonant form
was now assigned to y, namely, a^" , and r represented Ir
instead of C , which was assigned to wl.
After this issue ** Editions " were discontinued.
1870. — ^The triphthong j wi discontinued. The signs \ thl,
V thl introduced.
1871. — The character C was assigned to wh ; (T to wl, and
C to whl. The sign i was given the significance of rch, rf.
1873. — In the list of Grammalogues / was substituted for
i to represent he.
1881. — The double-length principle was applied to a straight
consonant when following another, as I j conductor. (There was
a preliminary introduction of the principle in 1879 at the end of
" Key to the Reporting Exercises.")
1884. — The double-length principle was extended to straight
consonants ending with hook, or circle ns, as, *\ printer,
— r-o counters.
1885. — In the list of Grammalogues i replaces / for he.
1886. — It was announced that the perpendicular or horizontal
tick for a " joined a or an " had been used for many years, but as
it was found to clash in rapid writing with the joined tick for
the, it was now given up.
1887. — The double consonant sw expressed by a large initial
circle introduced, thus, j sweet, CT* swim. The triphthong
| wi re-introduced.
lSSS."— -The signs 0 M> C thl discontinued.
1889. — The double consonant l rch, rj discontinued.
APPENDIX III
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PAGE
I. SHORTHAND WORKS .... 355
II. BOOKS IN SHORTHAND CHARACTER . . 371
III. PERIODICALS ..... 374
IV. SPELLING REFORM TRACTS . . . 378
^V. BOOKS IN REFORMED SPELLING . . . 378
I. SHORTHAND WORKS
Manual
Stenographic Sound-hand, by Isaac Pitman. London : Samuel
Bagster, at his Warehouse for Bibles, Testaments, Prayer
Books, Lexicons, &c, in Ancient and Modern Languages,
No. 15 Paternoster row. Also sold by the Author, Wotton
Underedge ; and by all Booksellers. Price four-pence. [The
above is on the cover. The heading to the text is : " Short-
hand, founded on ' Walker's Principles of English Pronunci-
ation.' " The book consists of 12 pp. and 2 plates. Plate
i. Vowel sounds, and single and double consonants ; ii. The
" Wheel " diagram of characters, Examples, Lord's Prayer,
Psalm 100, and Rules of Life. This was the First Edition,
and consisted of 3,000 Copies. (15th Nov., 1837.) 12mo.]
Phonography or Writing by Sound, being also a New and Natural
System of Short -Hand. Invented and drawn by I. Pitman,
5 Nelson place, Bath. Price one penny. S. Bagster, 15
Paternoster row, London. [Post 4to, 8 in. by 6£ in., printed
from an engraved steel plate, published simultaneously with
the introduction of the Penny Postage, 10th Jan., 1840. The
first issue had no reading matter down the left and right sides
outside the rule. Along the bottom was the statement that
" Any person may receive lessons from the Author by post
at Is. each to be paid in advance, etc." The second issue had
the notice : " To purchasers of early impressions," etc., down
the sides. The third issue had along the bottom the altered
statement : " Any person may receive lessons from the
Author by post gratuitously." The Second Edition of the
system.]
355
356 APPENDIX III
Mounted on canvas and bound in cloth, lettered, with two
chapters from the N. T. (Rev. 21 and Mat. 5) as additional
exercises [at the back], Is. London : S. Bagster, 15 Pater-
noster row, 1840. Exercises in Phonography containing the
above chapters was issued separately as plate No. 2, price Id.
[Eng. steel plate, 7 in. x 8£ in., folded in six. Also the Second
Edition of the system.]
Phonography, or Writing by Sound ; being a Natural Method
of Writing applicable to all Languages, and a complete system
of Short Hand. By Isaac Pitman, 5, Nelson place, Bath.
Entered at Stationers' Hall. London : Samuel Bagster &
Sons, 15 Paternoster row. [Sept.] 1840. Price 8d. ; cloth
Is. [Demy 8vo. 24 pp. This is Part I., consisting of
Introduction, System, and Rules. There was also an issue
in Dec. Part II., when published separately, was called
Exercises in Phonography, or Writing by Sound, being a
Natural Method of Writing applicable to all Languages, and
a Complete System of Short Hand. By I. Pitman. London :
Samuel Bagster. 1840. Price 8d. Demy 8vo. 15 pp.
When bound together the second part was paged 25-38.
Price 2s. The Exercises were engraved on wood. The
diagram shown below appeared on the title page and, when
bound, on the cloth cover of these books.
Whether single or together, the parts were
the Third Edition.] $
Title Page and 11 pages of Part I. Printed
on a large sheet. Bagster & Sons. 1840.
Price 8d.
Twelve Pages of Part II., or the Exercises
printed on a large sheet. Bagster & Sons,
1840. Price 8d.
Phonography and Shorthand. A Natural Method of Writing all
Languages by Signs that Represent their Sounds. By Isaac
Pitman. Fourth Edition, 50,000 copies [including previous
editions.] Price one penny. London, Samuel Bagster & Sons,
1841. [Demy 4to. Letterpress and woodcuts, printed on
both sides.]
Same as above. Price threepence. On pink enamelled paper ;
a double sheet, printed on one side only.
Phonography, or Writing by Sound, a Natural Method of Writing
all Languages by Signs representative of Sounds. And a
Complete System of Shorthand. By Isaac Pitman, 5 Nelson
place, Bath. London : Bagster & Sons, 15 Paternoster row,
1842. [Large 8vo. Introduction, System, and Rules form
a first part. Sold separately. To this was added a second
part. Examples cut in wood, 37 pp. in all, numbered 1-24
and 3-15. This was a first issue of the Fifth Edition.]
APPENDIX III 357
Pocket Edition. Phonography, or Writing by Sound ; a Natural
Method, etc. Fifth Edition, improved. Seventieth thousand.
London : Samuel Bagster & Sons, 15 Paternoster row. 1842.
[Royal 32mo. 64 pp., bound, price 2s. The cover bore the
design illustrated on p. 71. The same work was also issued as
a " People's Edition," in royal 8vo. (four of the small pages in
one), price Is. ; and as a " School Edition," royal 32mo.,
24 pp., price 3d. See next two entries.]
A Manual of Phonography or Writing by Sound ; a Natural
Method of Writing all Languages by one Alphabet, composed
of Signs that represent the Sounds of the Human Voice :
adapted also to the English Language as a complete system
of Short Hand, briefer than any other system, and by which
a speaker can be followed verbatim, without the use of any
arbitrary marks, beyond the Letters of the Alphabet. By
Isaac Pitman. Fifth Edition, improved. London : Samuel
Bagster & Sons, 15, Paternoster row. 1842. [Royal 8vo.
16 pp. The same as the last entry, four pages in one. It is
called the " People's Edition " on the paper cover. In some
copies the title commences " Phonography, or writing by
sound."]
(School Edition.) Abridged from the " Pocket Edition," for
the use of British, National, and Charity schools. Phono-
graphy, or Writing by Sound, etc. Fifth Edition, improved.
Eightieth thousand. London : Samuel Bagster & Sons,
15 Paternoster row. 1843. [Royal 32mo. 24 pp. 3d.]
Phonetic Writing. By Isaac Pitman. Price Id., mounted 6d.
Pitman, Bath ; Bagster, London. December, 1843. 5th
Edition, 90,000 copies.
Phonography, or Phonetic Short Hand. Price, on plain paper,
Id. ; on card folded up as a book, 6d. Fifth Edition. Total
number of copies, 90,000. [4to lith. sheet.]
Phonography, by Isaac Pitman. 5th Edition, 100,000 copies.
[4to lith. sheet. Dec. 1843. Price Id.]
A Penny Sheet of the First and Second Styles of Phonography.
June, 1844. [4 to sheet. Type and wood cuts.]
A Table of the Third Style of Phonography. Sixth Edition.
London, June, 1844. 6d. [Royal 4to sheet, introducing the
improvements of the Seventh Edition while the book was in
preparation.]
A Table of the Second Style of Phonography. Seventh Edition,
March, 1845. Pitman, Bath. Bagster, London. [Royal 4to.
Type and wood cuts. 3d.]
A Penny Sheet of the First Style of Phonography. Seventh
Edition. April, 1845. Price 3d. Bagster & Sons, London.
358 APPENDIX III
A Manual of Phonography ; or Writing by Sound : a natural
Method of Writing by Signs that represent the sounds of
language, and adapted to the English language as a complete
System of Phonetic Shorthand. By Isaac Pitman. Seventh
Edition. Published by Isaac Pitman at the Phonographic
Institution, 5 Nelson place, Bath; and at the Phonographic
and Phonotypic depot, 1 Queen's Head passage, Paternoster
row, London. Edinburgh, John Johnstone, Hunter square ;
Dublin, S. B. Oldham, 8 Suffolk street ; Paris, M. Degetau et
Cie, 12 Place de la Bourse ; Boston, Andrews & Boyle, 339.
Washington street. Sept. 1845. A " People's Edition,"
London and Bath, bore the date 1845. [Fcap. 8vo.
This size was from this time adopted for the text-books.
64 pp. Is.]
A Manual of Phonography, etc. By Isaac Pitman. With an
Appendix on the application of Phonography to foreign
languages. By A. J. Ellis, B.A. (Seventh Edition.) London :
Samuel Bagster & Sons, 15 Paternoster row, Bath : Isaac
Pitman, Phonetic Institution, 5 Nelson place. 1845. [64 pp. ;
Appendix, 36 pp. 2s. The Appendix was also published
separately, price 6d.]
Phonography, or Writing by Sound. By Isaac Pitman. Price
3d. Feb., 1847. Another issue, May, 1847. [Royal 4to
sheet.]
Additions to Phonography supplementary to the Eighth Edition.
4 pp. letterpress and engraved shorthand. Price Id. 5th
March, 1852.
Rough draft of the Eighth Edition. 14 pp. of lithographed
Phonography. 5th April, 1847.
Eighth Edition. [Quotation from the English Review on title
page, as given on p. 186 ante. This was continued down to
1894.] London : Fred. Pitman, Phonetic Depot, 1 Queen's
Head Passage, Paternoster Row. Bath : Isaac Pitman,
Phonetic Institution, 5 Nelson place. 1847. [72 pp., including
8 steel plates. Is. 6d. The Appendix is discontinued.]
Seventh thousand of the Eighth Edition.
Ninth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Eleventh thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Twelfth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Fifteenth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Twentieth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1849.
Twenty-fifth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1849.
Thirtieth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1849.
Thirty-third thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1851.
Fifty-sixth thousand of the Eighth Edition. London : Fred
Pitman, Phonetic Depot, 20 Paternoster Row. 1851.
APPENDIX III 359
Ninth Edition. One hundred and twenty-fifth thousand. 1 852.
One hundred and thirtieth thousand. 1853.
One hundred and thirty-fifth thousand. 1853.
One hundred and fortieth thousand. 1855.
Circular letter on the Changes proposed to be introduced into
the Tenth Edition. [Small 8vo, 8 pp. in litho. shorthand.
7th Nov. 1857.]
Tenth Edition. One hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1857.
One hundred and fifty-fourth thousand. 1858.
One hundred and fifty-fifth thousand. 1860.
One hundred and sixtieth thousand. 1860.
One hundred and sixty-sixth thousand. 1861.
Supplement to the Ninth Edition. [Fcap. 8vo, 4 pp. letterpress
and shorthand.] " Purchasers of the Ninth Edition of the
Manual of Phonography are requested to paste these four
pages in their copies after page 64." March, 1861.
Rough proof of a new Edition of the supplement to the Tenth
Edition, containing a new downward r. 4 pp. letterpress and
shorthand. Six editions (Nos. 1 to 6) issued in Sept., 1862.
Eleventh Edition. One hundred and seventieth thousand.
1862.
One hundred and seventy -seventh thousand. 1863.
Supplement to the Tenth Edition of the Manual of Phonography.
[Fcap. 8vo, 4 pp. letterpress and shorthand.] 20th January,
1863.
One hundred and eightieth thousand. 1864.
One hundred and eighty-sixth thousand. 1865. [The monogram
given below appeared on the title page from this edition down
to 1873.]
One hundred and ninetieth thousand. 1866.
Twelfth Edition. Two hundredth thousand. 1867.
Two hundred and tenth thousand. 1868.
Two hundred and twentieth thousand. 1868.
[Editions discontinued, this being the last
bearing the words "Twelfth Edition" on the
title page.]
Two hundred and thirtieth thousand. 1870.
Two hundred and thirty-fifth thousand. 1871.
Two hundred and fortieth thousand. 1871.
Two hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1872.
Two hundred and fifty-fifth thousand. 1873. [Shorthand reading
matter at end first printed from engraved type, in place of
steel plates.]
Two hundred and sixtieth thousand. 1873.
Two hundred and sixty-fifth thousand. 1873.
360
APPENDIX III
Two hundred and seventy-fifth thousand. • 1874. [The mono-
gram given below appeared on the title page from this edition
down to 1886.]
Two hundred and ninetieth thousand. 1875.
Three hundredth thousand. 1876. [64 pp.]
Three hundred and tenth thousand. 1877.
Three hundred and twentieth thousand. 1877.
Three hundred and twenty-eighth thousand. 1879.
Three hundred and thirty-sixth thousand. 1880.
Three hundred and sixtieth thousand. 1881.
Three hundred and seventy-sixth thousand. 1882.
Three hundred and ninety-fourth thousand. 1883.
Four hundred and tenth thousand. 1883.
Four hundred and twenty-fifth thousand. 1884.
Four hundred and thirty-eighth thousand. 1885.
Four hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1885.
Four hundred and seventieth thousand. 1886.
Four hundred and eighty-fifth thousand. 1886.
Four hundred and ninety-eighth thousand. Isaac Pitman and
Sons, 1 Amen Corner, London ; Bath : Phonetic Institute.
1887.
Five hundred and sixth thousand. 1887.
Five hundred and twentieth thousand. Proof of the Jubilee
Edition of the Manual of Phonography. 88 pp. 1887.
Five hundred and twentieth thousand. New Edition. 89 pp.
1888.
Five hundred and seventieth thousand. 1888.
Six hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1889.
Seven hundred and fiftieth thousand. Rough Proof. 87 pp.
London, Bath, and 3 East Fourteenth Street, New York.
1890.
Seven hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1890.
Eight hundredth thousand. 1892.
Eight hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1893.
Nine hundredth- thousand. 1894.
[From the date last given Sir Isaac Pitman discontinued the
personal supervision of the issue of his works, and the present
Bibliography is throughout brought down to this point.]
Questions on the Manual.
Questions on Isaac Pitman's Manual of Phonography. Adapted
to the Ninth Edition. 1854. 3d. [16 pp.]
Questions. Tenth Edition. 1858 and 1860.
Questions. Eleventh Edition. 1863. 1864.
Questions. 1873. 1875. 1877. 1879. 1883. 1884. 1885.
Questions. New Edition. 1888. 1889. 1891. 1894.
, APPENDIX III 361
Exercises on the Manual.
Exercises in Phonography : a series of Graduated Writing
Exercises, illustrative of the principles of the art, as developed
in the "Manual of Phonography." Adapted to the latest
edition. [Compiled by William Silver, with introduction by
Isaac Pitman. 1871. Id. 16 pp.]
Thirty-sixth thousand. 1874.
Fifty-fifth thousand. 1876.
One hundred and sixth thousand. 1879.
One hundred and fourteenth thousand. 1880.
One hundred and fifty-sixth thousand. 1882.
One hundred and sixty-fifth thousand. 1882.
One hundred and eighty-first thousand. 1883.
Two hundredth thousand. 1884.
Two hundred and tenth thousand. 1884.
Two hundred and thirtieth thousand. 1885.
Two hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1886.
Two hundred and sixtieth thousand. 1887.
Two hundred and eightieth thousand. 1888.
Key to the Manual.
Key to Exercises in the Manual of Phonography. By Isaac
Pitman. [Key to exercises in the New Edition of the Manual,
chiefly in engraved shorthand. 31 pp.] 1888. 1889. 1890.
1891. 1892. 1894.
Reporter.
The Reporter's Book, or Phonography adapted to verbatim
reporting. [First edition.] Isaac Pitman, Bath. S. Bagster
& Sons, London. 1843. [12mo. 36 printed and lith. pp.] 2s.
The Reporter ; or Phonography adapted to verbatim reporting.
By Isaac Pitman. Published by Isaac Pitman, Bath and
London. Sold by all booksellers, phonographic lecturers, and
teachers. 1845. [Demy 8vo. 79 pp., partly lith.] 2s.
The Reporter. Second edition, 1846.
The Reporter's Companion : an adaptation of Phonography (as
developed in the Eighth Edition of the " Manual " of the
system,) to verbatim reporting. By Isaac Pitman. Third
edition. London : Fred. Pitman. 1849. [Fcap. 8vo. 88 pp.
2s. 6d.]
In the above edition the following quotation appeared for the
first time on the title page (and was continued till 1894) : —
11 Shorthand, on account of its great and general utility, merits
a much higher rank among the arts and sciences than is
commonly allotted to it. Its usefulness is not confined to any
particular science or profession, but is universal ; it is therefore
by no means unworthy the attention and study of men of
genius and erudition." — Dr. Samuel Johnson.
362 APPENDIX III
The Reporter's Companion, etc. (as developed in the Ninth
Edition of the " Manual " of the system) etc. 1853. [8vo.
96 pp.]
Eighteenth thousand. Fourth edition. 1854.
Nineteenth thousand. 1858.
Twenty-first thousand. (As developed in the Tenth Edition
of the " Manual " of the system.) 1859.
Twenty-third thousand. 1860.
Twenty-fifth thousand. Eleventh Edition. 1862.
Twenty-ninth thousand. 1863.
Thirty-fourth thousand. 1866.
Thirty -sixth thousand. Twelfth Edition. 1869.
The Phonographic Reporter, or Reporter's Companion : an
Adaptation of Phonography to Verbatim Reporting. By
Isaac Pitman. Thirty -sixth thousand. London and Bath. 1896.
Thirty-eighth thousand. 1869.
Forty-third thousand. 1870.
Forty-fifth thousand. 1871.
Fiftieth thousand. 1872.
Fifty-third thousand. 1873. [94 pp.]
Fifty-eighth thousand. 1874.
Sixty-third thousand. 1875. [96 pp.]
Sixty-ninth thousand. 1876.
Seventy-seventh thousand. 1877.
Eighty-fifth thousand. 1878.
Ninety-third thousand. 1880.
One hundred and second thousand. 1882.
One hundred and tenth thousand. 1882.
One hundred and eighteenth thousand. 1884.
One hundred and twenty-eighth thousand. 1884.
One hundred and thirty-third thousand. 1885.
One hundred and thirty-sixth thousand. 1886.
One hundred and forty-second thousand. 1886.
One hundred and fifty-third thousand. 1887.
One hundred and fifty -third thousand. 1887. Isaac Pitman &
Sons, 1 Amen Corner, London, and Bath.
One hundred and fifty-ninth thousand. 1888.
One hundred and sixty-ninth thousand. 1888.
[Enlarged edition. 112 pp.]
One hundred and seventy-second thousand. 1889. 2s.
One hundred and eighty-sixth thousand. 1890.
London, Bath, and 3 East Fourteenth Street, New York.
One hundred and ninety-sixth thousand. 1892.
Two hundred and first thousand. 1893.
Two hundred and eleventh thousand. 1894.
Two hundred and twenty-first thousand. 1894.
Grammalogues and Contractions for use in classes. 1876.
[8 pp. Frequently re-issued in subsequent years.]
APPENDIX III 363
Reporting Exercises.
Reporting Exercises : intended as a companion to the Phono-
graphic Reporter, or Reporter's Companion. London and
Bath. 1872. [30 pp. in letterpress. Preface by Isaac
Pitman, who states that the exercises were compiled by
William Silver and that T. G. Johnson contributed the exercise
on the law phrases : " The publisher has inserted the ' Rules
for Writing / and r, added a short praxis on Intersected Words,
and made some other improvements."]
Reporting Exercises : A Praxis on the Phonographic Reporter,
or Reporter's Companion. Enlarged to 32 pp. Editions
appeared in 1877 and 1879. Enlarged to 36 pp. Editions
appeared in 1881, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890,
1891, 1894.
Key to Reporting Exercises. In Pitman's Phonography. 1879.
[62 pp. Contains at the end an article on the extension of
the double length principle to straight letters — the first
appearance of the method in the text-books. In the issues
for 1883, 1884, 1886, 1887 and 1888 this article also appeared,
but was discontinued in succeeding editions.
Key to Reporting Exercises. In Pitman's Phonography. New
Edition. 1889. [64 pp.]
Other editions appeared in 1891, 1894.
Reporter's Assistant.
Reporter's Assistant (The) ; a key to the reading of the Reporting
Style of Phonography. 1867. [8vo. 86 pp. lith.]
Reporter's Assistant and the Learner's Guide to a knowledge of
Phonography (The) ; a key to the reading of the Reporting
Style of Phonography, and a Course of Lessons for learners
in Shorthand outlines. By Isaac Pitman. Second edition.
1883. [8vo. 79 pp., letterpress and engraved characters.]
Third edition. 1885.
Fourth edition. 1890, 1892. [80 pp.]
Phrase Books.
Phonographic Phrase Book (The), with the Grammalogues of the
Reporting Style of Phonography. By Isaac Pitman. 1858.
[Fcap. 8vo. 48 pp. The phrases were indicated in stenotypy.
This work succeeded two editions issued by T. A. Reed with
the permission and approval of Isaac Pitman.]
Subsequent editions in 1859, 1860, 1862, 1864, and 1866.
New edition. 1866. [100 pp., partly letterpress, partly lith.]
Also in 1868 and 1871. [96 pp., partly letterpress, partly lith.]
Phonographic Phrase Book (The). By Isaac Pitman. 1873.
[Fcap. 8vo. 48 pp. Phrases entirely in lithographed
shorthand.]
364 APPENDIX III
Phonographic Phrase Book (The), with the Grammalogues of the
Reporting Style of Phonography. By Isaac Pitman. 1874.
[48 pp. engraved shorthand characters.]
Subsequent editions in 1875, 1877, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1889,
1890, and 1893, the last named edition having an exercise
on the phrases in letterpress, compiled by George Andrews.
Phonographic Railway Phrase Book (The). 1869. [20 pp.
lithographed. In the preface Isaac Pitman expressed indebt-
edness to Edward Johnson and others in the preparation of
the work.]
Phonographic Railway Phrase Book (The) ; an adaptation of
Phonography to the requirements of Railway Business and
correspondence. By Isaac Pitman. Second edition. 1872.
[20 pp.]
Third edition. 1874.
Other editions, 1880 and 1884, 1889, 1892 (all litho.).
Phonographic Legal Phrase Book (The). An adaptation of
Phonography to the requirements of Legal Business and
Correspondence. 1882. [20 pp. Frequently re-issued in
subsequent years.]
Teacher Series.
Class-Book.
The Phonographic Class-Book. Pitman, Bath. Bagster, Lon-
don. [Fcap. 8vo. 24 lith. pp. 1843. 6d.]
The Phonographic Class-Book. By Isaac Pitman. 1844. [24
pp. letterpress with shorthand characters engraved on wood.]
The Phonographic Class-Book. An improved edition, adapted
to the Fifth Edition of Phonography. Bath : published by
Isaac Pitman, at the Phonographic Institution, 5 Nelson place.
London : S. Bagster & Sons, 15 Paternoster row. Sold by
all booksellers, and by phonographic lecturers and teachers.
1844. [24 pp. similar to previous edition.]
The Phonographic Class-Book, adapted to the Sixth Edition
of Phonography. 1844. [24 lith. pp.]
The Phonographic Class-Book. 1845. [24 pp. letterpress and
wood engraved shorthand.]
The Phonographic Class-Book. 1846. [24 pp. similar to
previous edition.]
The Phonographic Class-Book. 1847. [24 lith. pp.]
Exercises.
Exercises in Phonography. By Isaac Pitman. London :
Bagster & Sons, 15, Paternoster row. Sold also by the author,
5 Nelson place, Bath, and by all booksellers. 1842. [12mo.
24 pp. lith. shorthand reading matter only.]
APPENDIX III 365
Exercises in Phonography. 1842. [8 pp. lith. shorthand reading
matter only. Another work.]
Exercises in Phonography. 6d. 1843. [24 pp. lith. shorthand
reading matter only.]
Exercises in Phonography. Designed to conduct the pupil to
a practical acquaintance with the art. (Formerly called " The
Phonographic Class-Book. ") By Isaac Pitman. English
Review quotation on title page ; see p. 186. London and
Bath. 1847. Price 6d. [32 pp. letterpress rules with
shorthand characters and reading matter engraved on wood.]
Eleventh thousand of the Eighth Edition. London. 1848.
Fourteenth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Sixteenth thousand of Eighth Edition, 1848.
Twentieth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Twenty-fourth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Twenty-fifth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1848.
Thirtieth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1849.
Fortieth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1849.
Fiftieth thousand of the Eighth Edition. London and Bath.
1850.
Fifty-sixth thousand of the Eighth Edition. 1851.
Instructor.
The Phonographic Instructor. A new and improved edition of
" Exercises in Phonography," designed to conduct the pupil
to a practical acquaintance with the art. By Isaac Pitman.
Ninth Edition. Two hundred and third thousand. London
and Bath. 1852. [Fcap. 8vo. 32 pp. The passage from
Henry Sutton's " Evangel of Love," which forms the plate
facing p. 287, is first quoted in this edition.]
Ninth edition. Two hundred and sixth thousand. 1852.
Ninth edition. Two hundred and fifteenth thousand. 1853.
Ninth edition. Two hundred and twentieth thousand. 1853.
Ninth edition. Two hundred and twenty-fifth thousand. 1854.
Exercises in Phonography. A course of Reading Lessons in
Phonetic Shorthand. By Isaac Pitman. In accordance with
the Ninth Edition of Phonography. 1853-4. [48 pp. wood
engraved shorthand with letterpress key at foot, • supple-
mentary to the Phonographic Instructor."]
The Phonographic Instructor : a Course of Lessons in Phonetic
Shorthand. By Isaac Pitman. Ninth edition. Two hun-
dred and thirtieth thousand. 1856.
Tenth Edition. Two hundred and thirty-fifth thousand. 1857.
Tenth edition. Two hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1857.
366
APPENDIX III
Teacher.
New Edition of the " Phonographic Instructor." The Phono-
graphic Teacher : a Course of Lessons in Phonetic Shorthand.
By Isaac Pitman. Tenth Edition. Two hundred and fiftieth
thousand. 1858. 6d.
Tenth Edition. Two hundred and sixtieth thousand. 1859.
The Phonographic Teacher. Tenth Edition. Two hundred and
sixty-fifth thousand. 1860.
Tenth Edition. Two hundred and seventy -fifth thousand. 1861.
Tenth edition. Two hundred and eightieth thousand. 1861.
Eleventh Edition. Two hundred and eighty-fifth thousand.
1862.
Two hundred and ninety-fifth thousand. 1862.
Three hundredth thousand. 1863.
Three hundred and fifth thousand. 1863.
Three hundred and tenth thousand. 1863.
Eleventh Edition.
Eleventh Edition
Eleventh Edition
Eleventh Edition
Eleventh Edition.
1864.
Eleventh Edition
1864.
Eleventh
1865.
Eleventh
1866.
Eleventh
1867.
Twelfth Edition
Three hundred and twenty-fourth thousand.
Three hundred and twenty-fifth thousand.
Edition. Three hundred and forty-fifth thousand.
Edition. Three hundred and fifty-fifth thousand.
Edition. Three hundred and sixty-fifth thousand.
Three hundred and seventy-fifth thousand.
1868.
Twelfth Edition. Three hundred and eighty-fifth thousand. 1868.
Twelfth Edition. Four hundred and tenth thousand. 1869.
[Editions discontinued.]
Four hundred and twenty-fifth thousand. 1870.
Four hundred and thirtieth thousand. 1870.
Four hundred and thirty-fifth thousand. 1871.
Four hundred and forty-fifth thousand. 1872.
Four hundred and sixty -fifth thousand. 1873.
Revised Edition. Four hundred and sixty-ninth thousand. 1873.
Four hundred and ninetieth thousand. 1874.
Five hundredth thousand. 1874.
Five hundred and tenth thousand. 1874.
Five hundred and twentieth thousand. 1875.
Five hundred and thirtieth thousand. 1875.
Five hundred and fortieth thousand. 1875.
Five hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1876.
Five hundred and sixtieth thousand. 1876.
Five hundred and seventieth thousand. 1876.
Five hundred and eightieth thousand. 1877.
APPENDIX III 367
Five hundred and eighty-fifth thousand. 1877.
Six hundred and eighty -sixth thousand. 1879.
Seven hundred and fortieth thousand. 1881.
Seven hundred and seventy-eighth thousand. 1882.
Seven hundred and ninety-fourth thousand. 1882.
Eight hundred and tenth thousand. 1882.
Eight hundred and thirty-sixth thousand. 1883.
Eight hundred and fifty- third thousand. 1883.
Eight hundred and sixty-ninth thousand. 1884.
Nine hundred and fourth thousand. 1884. [Quotation from
Henry Sutton discontinued after this edition.]
Nine hundred and twenty-fourth thousand. 1884.
Nine hundred and forty-fourth thousand. 1885.
Nine hundred and seventieth thousand. 1885.
Nine hundred and ninetieth thousand. 1885.
One million and thirtieth thousand. 1886.
One million and seventieth thousand. 1886.
Proof of Jubilee Edition. 1886, 1887. [Three editions.]
Jubilee Edition. The Phonographic Teacher : a Guide to a
Practical Acquaintance with the Art of Phonography or
Phonetic Shorthand. By Isaac Pitman. One million and
one hundred thousand. Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1 Amen
Corner, London, and Bath. 1887. [46 pp.]
One million one hundred and thirtieth thousand. 1887.
One million one hundred and seventieth thousand. 1887.
One million two hundredth thousand. 1888.
One million two hundred and twentieth thousand. 1888.
One million two hundred and seventieth thousand. 1888.
One million three hundred and seventieth thousand. 1889.
One million five hundred and twentieth thousand. 1890.
One million six hundredth thousand. 1891.
One million seven hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1891.
One million eight hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1892-3.
One million nine hundred and fiftieth thousand. 1894.
Second million. 1894.
Key to the Teacher.
Key to the " Phonographic " Teacher and to the " Exercises in
Phonography." By Isaac Pitman. 1874. 6d. [32 pp. of
lithographed shorthand and letterpress forming a key to the
" Teacher " exercises and to the " Exercises " on the
" Manual."]
Key to " Teacher " and " Exercises." 1879. [40 pp. of engraved
shorthand and letterpress.] 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. 1884.
1885.
Key to the " Phonographic Teacher." By Isaac Pitman. Jubilee
Edition. 1887. 6d. [28 pp. of engraved shorthand and
letterpress.] 1888. 1889. 1891. 1892. 1895.
368 APPENDIX III
Teacher Exercises, Etc.
Exercises in Phonography : A Series of Graduated Sentence
Exercises, illustrating the Principles of the Art, as Developed
in the " Phonographic Teacher." 1890. Id. [15 pp. in
letterpress. Compiled by G. H. Gunston, with introduction
by Isaac Pitman. Also on cards. Numerous subsequent
editions.]
Progressive Studies in Phonography. A Simple and Extended
Exposition of the Principles of the Art of Phonetic Shorthand
as set forth in " The Phonographic Teacher," " The Manual
of Phonography " and " The Reporter," intended for the use,
principally, of self-taught students. [Fcap. 8vo. 104 pp.
Edited by Isaac Pitman, who contributed a preface ; the
compiler of the " Studies " was T. A. Turner. 1884.]
Subsequent editions in 1887, 1888, 1890, 1893.
Copy Books.
Phonographic Copy-book (The) : designed to conduct the learner,
in three lessons, to an acquaintance with the principles and
practice of Phonography, or writing by sound ; a new system
of shorthand. By Isaac Pitman. Second thousand. 1842.
Price 6d. [Fcap. 8vo. 16 pp., interleaved with ruled paper ;
engraved characters and letterpress.]
Phonographic Copy-book (The). [With the phonographic
alphabet on the cover.] London and Bath. (1849.)
Compends.
Summary of Phonography (A). By Isaac Pitman. Abstracted
from the " Manual of Phonography." Small 8vo. 16 pp.
3d. 1868.
Compend of Phonography. 1862.
Compendium of Phonography (A), or Phonetic Shorthand,
containing the alphabet, grammalogues, and principal rules
for writing. By I. Pitman. 1864. One penny. [A folding
card of 6 pp.]
Penny edition. For use in schools and as a pocket companion.
A Compendium of Phonography, or phonetic shorthand ;
containing the alphabet, grammalogues, and principal rules
of writing. By Isaac Pitman. 1865. [4 pp.]
Compendium. 1866. [6 pp. folding card.]
Summary of Phonography (A), with the grammalogues and
principal rules for writing. 1868.
Compend of Phonography (A). Fiftieth thousand. 1871,
APPENDIX III 369
Compend of Phonography (A). Hundredth thousand. 1874.
Compend of Phonography (A), or Phonetic Shorthand ; containing
the alphabet, grammalogues, and principal rules for writing.
By Isaac Pitman. Hundred and thirty-eighth thousand.
1880.
One hundred and seventy-fourth thousand. 1885.
One hundred and ninetieth thousand. 1887.
Two hundred thousand. 1890.
Two hundred and eighteenth thousand. 1891.
Two hundred and twenty-eighth thousand. 1893.
Dictionaries.
Phonographic Dictionary of the English Language. Issued in the
Ipswich Phono-Press, Aug., 1845, to Dec, 1846. [Demy 8vo.
136 pp.]
Rough Draft of a Phonographic Vocabulary of the most Common
Words in the English Language. 10 May, 1848. [Fcap.
8vo. 40 pp.]
Phonographic and Pronouncing Vocabulary of the English
Language (A). By Isaac Pitman. 1850. [iv. and 295 pp.
Fcap. 8vo., alternately lith. and letterpress. Written in
accordance with the Eighth Edition of Phonography.]
Second edition. London. 1852. [8vo. iv. and 295 pp.
Written in accordance with the Ninth Edition.]
Third Edition. By Isaac Pitman, Inventor of Phonography, or
Phonetic Shorthand. 1867. [Demy 16mo. 336 pp. lith.]
Draft of the Phonographic Dictionary. By Isaac Pitman.
Printed for private circulation. 1869. [Crown 4to, 32 pp.]
Phonetic Shorthand and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English
Language (A). By Isaac Pitman, inventor of Phonography,
a system of Phonetic Shorthand, based on the Sounds of
Speech and the Science of Phonetics. [Fourth Edition.]
1878. [Crown 8vo. vi. and 344 pp. Engraved characters
and letterpress, pronunciation in phonotypy and meanings
in ordinary spelling.]
Phonetic Shorthand and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English
Language (A). By Isaac Pitman, inventor of Phonography,
• a system of Phonetic Shorthand, based on the Sounds of
Speech and the science of Phonetics. Fifth edition. 1883.
[iv. and 277 pp., giving only shorthand forms with longhand
spelling.]
Also in 1884.
Sixth Edition. 1889. [iv and 299 pp.] 1890, 1891, 1894.
«4— (M84)
•v
370 APPENDIX III
History.
History of Shorthand. In the Phonotypic Journal, vol. vi.( 1847,
pp. 53-58, 213-218, 269-274, 282-292, 317-343, 349-382, 389-
428 : including 16 lith. pp. of stenographic and phonographic
alphabets.
History of Shorthand (A). By Isaac Pitman. Written in
Phonography. 1852. [8vo. 167 pp. litho. shorthand.]
History of Shorthand (A). By Isaac Pitman. Reprinted from
the Phonotypic Journal, 1847. Second edition. (Correspond-
ing Style.) 1868. [8vo. 192 pp. litho. shorthand.]
History of Shorthand. Phonetic Journal, 1884, pp. 97, 109, 122,
134, 145, 158, 178, 181, 194, 206, 238, 250, 262, 265, 279, 292,
304, and 313.
History of Shorthand (A), by Isaac Pitman. Reprinted from the
Phonetic Journal, 1884. Third edition. [193 pp. in letter-
press, with litho. specimens and alphabets, and preceded by
" A Brief Presentation of Pitman's Phonetic Shorthand,"
xvi pp.]
Also in 1891.
American Phonographic Treatises. — The following are the
principal American authors who published Isaac Pitman's
Phonography in treatises bearing their names : S. P. Andrews
and A. F. Boyle (1845). J. C. Booth (1849). E. Longley
(1849). H. M. Parkhurst (1849). E. Webster (1852). A. J.
Graham (1854). Benn Pitman (1855). J. E. Munson (1867).
Eliza B. Burnz (1870). C. Haven (1875). W. W. Osgoodby
(1877). D. L. Scott-Browne (1882). In 1893 the United
States Bureau of Education published a Circular of Informa-
tion on Shorthand which contained a large amount of infOrma-
ation as to systems used, etc. The preface was contributed
by Dr. W. T. Harris, Commissioner of Education, who wrote :
" It will be seen in the chapter giving the statistics of instruc-
tion in shorthand in the United States, that the system
mainly followed is that of Isaac Pitman. Few inventors
within the last two hundred years have been so happy as he
in discovering *tTevices that have proved useful in practice
and at the same time called forth universal admiration for
their theoretic perfection. ... It will be seen by the
chronological lists of English and American authors of text-
books that very many systems have been published
that are but slight modifications upon the system of
Phonography . ' '
APPENDIX III 371
Foreign Adaptations of Phonography. — The following
published adaptations of Phonography to the languages
mentioned were made by the authors named during the
lifetime of Isaac Pitman, to which period the list is limited :
Bengalee, D. N. Shinghaw (1892). Dutch, F. de Haan (1886).
French, P. Barrue (1881) ; T.A. Reed. (1882) ; J. R. Bruce
(1888) ; T. Van den Bergh (1892). German, C. L. Driesslein
(1886). Italian, G. Francini (1883). Japanese, Minamoto
Taunanori. Malagasy, A. Tacchi (1888). Spanish, G. Parody
(1879). Welsh, Rev. R. H. Morgan (1878).
II. BOOKS IN SHORTHAND CHARACTER.
The works mentioned below were produced from Isaac Pitman's
lithographic transfers, except where described as engraved.
1844 Phonographic Reading Book (The), written in the Third
[Learner's] Style. [Crown 8vo., 24 pp. See 1857.]
1844 Key to the Phonographic Reading Book [in letterpress].
1846 Sermon on the Mount. In Phonography written in an
Easy Style for Learners. [16 pp.]
1847 Prize Essay. Phonographic Teacher (The) . An Essay on
the Best Method of Teaching Pitman's Phonography. By
Sunergos (Corresponding Style).
Also " Written in Accordance with the 9th Edition "
(1853). Third Edition (1867). Fourth Edition (1871).
Subsequent editions were in letterpress.
1848 Laura ; Edward's Dream. By Miss A. A. Gray. [Small
8vo. 48 pp. Corresponding Style.]
1849 New Testament (The), and Book of Psalms (The). [Royal
32 mo. Corresponding Style. Issued together and
separately.]
Other editions of the New Testament were issued by
Isaac Pitman in 1853 (Corresponding Style) in 1865
(Corresponding Style) and 1869 (Easy Reporting Style).
The first edition of the New Testament from engraved
shorthand type, 368pp. (Easy Reporting Style), appeared
in 1886.
1850 Hart's Orthography, 1569. [Produced from a copy in the
British Museum in shorthand and phonotypy. Litho.
78 pp. Corresponding Style.]
1853 Book of Psalms (The). [Fcap. 8vo, 143 pp. See 1876.]
372 APPENDIX III
1857 Phonographic Reader (The), a series of Lessons in Phonetic
Shorthand, Tenth Edition. [Fcap. 8vo, 32 pp. engraved
shorthand, Learner's Style ; see 1877.]
Also in 1858, 1860, 1862, 1864, 1865, 1867, 1869, 1870,
and 1871.
1865 Pentateuch (The), or five books of Moses. In Learner's,
Business, Corresponding, and Reporting Styles, each
opening of the book displaying one style. [Demy 8vo,
159 pp.]
Another edition appeared in 1872.
1867 Bible (The Holy). In Corresponding Style. [Demy 8vo.
812 pp.]
In 1872 The Old Testament was lithographed from
Genesis i to 2 Kings xviii, 25, and also the New Testament,
but this edition was never completed, and remained
unpublished.
1867 Book of Common Prayer (The). [Small 8vo. 250 pp.
Corresponding Style.]
In 1869 a second edition appeared (Fcap. 8vo.). In
1887 the Book was printed in engraved shorthand type,
Easy Reporting Style [Fcap. 8vo. 296 pp.]
1867 Dairyman's Daughter (The). By Legh Richmond, M.A-
[Small 8vo. 96 pp. Corresponding Style.]
1867 Rasselas. By Dr. Johnson. Fcap. 8vo, 101 pp. (Report-
ing Style.)
1868 Macaulay's Biographies. [Small 8vo. 199 pp. Report-
ing Style. 126 pp., key in phonotypy.]
In 1870 a Second Edition appeared. [Demy 16mo.
187 pp. Reporting Style. No key.]
1869 Debate on the Irish Church Bill in the House of Lords
(The), June, 1869. [Fcap. 8vo. 173 pp. Reporting
Style, with letterpress key to the introductory speeches.]
1869 Diet, by Dr. Lambe ; with a Preface and Notes by Edward
Hare, C.S.I. [Small 8 vo. 176 pp. Corresponding Style.]
1869 Church Services (The). [Fcap. 8vo. 592 pp. Easy
Reporting Style.]
In 1893 an edition from engraved characters was issued.
Fcap. 8vo. 935 pp.
1869 The Vicar of Wakefield : An Exercise in Phonography, in
the several styles of the Art, from the Learner's to the
Reporting Style ; to be written by the pupil in shorthand
from a typic representation of the shorthand form for each
word, by Isaac Pitman. [Fcap. 8vo. With a preface
containing the Rev. W. J. Ball's appreciation of stenotypy]
In 1891 The Vicar of Wakefield was produced from
engraved shorthand, Corresponding Style. [Fcap. 8vo.
280 pp.]
^PPENDIX III 373
1870 Macaulay's Essays. [Demy8vo. 462 pp. Corresponding
Style.]
1871 Pilgrim's Progress, Narrative only of the. [Small 8vo. 84
pp. Corresponding Style.]
In 1876 an engraved edition was issued. [Fcap. 8vo.
176 pp. Corresponding Style.]
1871 Sexes Here and Hereafter (The). By W. H. Holcombc
M.D. [Demy 16mo. 155 pp. Corresponding Style.]
1871 Milton's "Paradise Lost." [Small 8vo. 280 pp.
Corresponding Style.]
1872 Heaven and its Wonders. By Emanuel Swedenborg.
■**» [Demy 16mo. xlviii and 272 pp. Corresponding
Style.] ,
1873 iEsop's Fables, in words of one syllable printed in the
Learner's Style of Phonography. [Fcap. 8vo. 48 pp.
engraved.] Many subsequent issues.
1875 Self-Culture. By J. S. Blackie. [Fcap. 8vo. 92. pp.
engraved.] 1882, -1892.
1876 Book of Psalms (The). [Fcap. 8vo. 160 pp. Corre-
sponding Style. Engraved.]
1876 Selections No. 1 by Isaac Pitman in the Reporting Style
of Phonography with Key. [48 pp. Engraved. There
were succeeding issues in 1885, 1891, etc.]
1876 Selections No. 2. [48 pp. . Engraved. No Key. Also in
1881, 1891, etc.]
1876 Extracts No. 1. In the Corresponding Style of Phono-
graphy by Isaac Pitman. Engraved. [48 pp.]
1876 Extracts No. 2. [48 pp.] Also subsequent issues.
1876 Extracts No. 3. [52 pp.] Also subsequent issues.
1877 Phonographic Reader (The). A Course of Reading Lessons
in Phonetic Shorthand in the Corresponding Style with a
Key. [Fcap. 8vo. New edition, with longhand key facing
the engraved shorthand.]
Many subsequent issues.
1881 Select Poetry in the Corresponding Style by Isaac Pitman.
[47 pp. Engraved.]
1883 Selections No. 3.
1888 Easy Readings in Phonography. Printed in the Learner's
Style of Phonography by Isaac Pitman. Selected from
" Evenings at Home in Words of One Syllable." [48 pp.]
Also issued in 1890 and subsequently. Engraved.
Various other reprints were made from the engraved
shorthand of the Phonetic Journal,
374 APPENDIX III
III. PERIODICALS.
Phonographic Journal {The). No. 1. January, 1842. Price 2d.,
or 3d. post-paid. Editor, Isaac Pitman, 5 Nelson Place, Bath ;
Publisher, Bagster, 15 Paternoster Row, London. Fcap. 8vo.
8 pp. lithographed shorthand. The first number of this
monthly was printed at Manchester from the transfers of Isaac
Pitman. It was the first shorthand periodical ever published
in the character of any system in this country. In Vol. 2,
beginning January, 1843, the size was increased to crown 8vo.,
and the number of lithographed shorthand pages to 12. In
Vol. 3, 1844, the size was increased to demy 8vo, 8 pp., and
at the end of this year the periodical was discontinued under
the above title and combined with the Phonographic
Correspondent.
Phonotypic Journal {The). Conducted by I. Pitman, Phono-
graphic Institution, 5 Nelson Place, Bath. Vol. 2, No. 13,
January, 1843. Crown 8vo. 24 pp. This was a companion
monthly periodical to the Phonographic Journal, was num-
bered to correspond, and printed in the ordinary type. The
first article, which began as follows, explained its scope : " The
title of this Journal has been chosen prospectively. We have
reason to hope that the time is not very distant, when it will
be printed with phonotypes. As the primary aim of the
Phonographic Journal will be to attempt to introduce a quicker
and briefer manner of writing than the one in common use ;
so, the object of the Phonotypic Journal will be to attempt
a similar beneficial change in the usual mode of printing."
This periodical was enlarged to 16 pp., demy 8vo. in Vol. 3,
beginning January, 1844, and from this date onwards a portion
of the contents consisted of phonotypy, Vol. 6 being printed
entirely in phonetic spelling, and subsequent vols, partially.
In December, 1847, Isaac Pitman relinquished the editing and
publishing to Alexander John Ellis.
Phonetic Journal {The), No. 1 January, 1848. Price Id. Mr.
Ellis announced this as " The successor to the Phonotypic
Journal. It is the same in size and price, but it is conducted
by a different editor on a somewhat different plan and for a
somewhat different purpose." Mr. Ellis conducted the
Journal throughout the year, and discontinued it in December,
on the appearance of his Phonetic News.
Phonotypic Journal {The), Vol. 8, March to Dec, 1849. Isaac
Pitman re-started a new series of the same size as Mr. Ellis's
late monthly, with the object of providing an organ for the
, Phonetic Society.
Phonetic Journal {The), Vol. 9, January, 1850. From this time
Isaac Pitman changed the title to the above as " more con-
venient and progressive " than the old name. The periodical
APPENDIX III 375
was from this date issued fortnightly. On 3rd January, 1852,
the Journal was enlarged and issued weekly at Id. under the
style of
Phonetic Journal (The), " To read and write comes by nature." —
Shakspere. London : Fred. Pitman, Phonetic depot, 20
Paternoster row. [4 to. 8 pp.] To Vol. xii., 1853 was added :
" Conducted by Isaac Pitman, Phonetic Institution, Bath,"
and the Shaksperean motto was left out. With Vol. xiv.,
1855, each number was increased to 12 pp. l£d. A series
of full-paged lithographed specimens of Phonography com-
menced with the number for 5th January, 1861 (Vol. xx.),
and 16 pp. were given per number. 2d. The lith. specimens
ceased soon after, but shorthand supplements were given
instead, and in 1866 the price was increased to 3d. On 4th
January, 1873, a new series was started, entitled
Phonetic Journal (The) : Published weekly. Devoted to the
Propagation of Phonetic Shorthand, and Phonetic Writing,
Reading, and Printing. No. 1, Vol. xxxii. New series, Id.
[4 to. 8 pp.] Two pages were given of specimens of Phono-
graphy from engraved type. In 1875 (Vol. xxxiv.), the size
was increased to 12 pp., and 4 pp. cover, four pages being
occupied with engraved shorthand. At the commencement of
1887 (Vol. xlvi.), the magazine had the following title and
description : —
Phonetic Journal (The). Published weekly. Devoted to the
propagation of Pitman's Shorthand (Phonography), and
Phonetic Reading, Writing, and Printing. Printed by Isaac
Pitman & Sons, at the Phonetic Institute, Kingston buildings,
Bath ; and published at their Phonetic depot, 1 Amen Corner,
Paternoster row, London. [4to. 16 pp., including cover.]
In January, 1888, the number of shorthand pages was in-
creased to five. At the commencement of 1891 the size of the
Journal was increased to 24 pp., and soon afterwards six pages
of shorthand were given weekly. The whole of the above series
of periodicals were edited by Isaac Pitman, with the exception
of Vol. vii. (1848), the first which was called the Phonetic
Journal, his editorship extending for a period of fifty-two
years down to his retirement in 1894.
Phonographic Correspondent (The), No. 1, January, 1844. 3d.
monthly, demy 8vo. 8 pp. of lithographed shorthand. From
April, 1844, this periodical bore the title of the Phonographic
Correspondent and Reporter. During 1845 it was the Phono-
graphic Correspondent ; in 1846 and Reporter was added. In
January, 1847, the title was altered to the Phonographic
Correspondent only, and the size reduced to a small 8vo of
16 pp. At this date the portion entitled Reporter became
The Reporters' Magazine, called " Vol. 4, No. 37," and at the
same time there was started a new series of
376 APPENDIX III
Phonographic Correspondent (The). Edited by Isaac Pitman, and
written in the First or Corresponding Style (also called Vol.
iv., No. 37.) Price 2d. F. Pitman, London. [16 mo. 16 pp.].
This gradually became illustrated. The periodical was dis-
continued at the end of 1858.
Phonographic Correspondent (The). A supplement to the Phonetic
Journal, edited and lithographed by Isaac Pitman. No. 1,
January 7, 1871, 16 mo. 16 pp. In an introductory notice
Isaac Pitman mentioned that " During the last seven years
the shorthand supplement to the Phonetic Journal has with
one exception consisted of a sheet of some book. . . . Our
reasons for issuing these books thus at the rate of a sheet per
week, instead of a shorthand periodical of miscellaneous
subjects, was that some standard books in shorthand for read-
ing practice were much wanted, and we could not lithograph
both the books and the periodical. We have now secured the
assistance of a shorthand lithographic writer who will renew
most of these books (many of which are already out of print),
and execute others, thus leaving us at liberty to write a
weekly sheet of miscellaneous matter under the revived title
of the Phonographic Correspondent." This periodical was
discontinued at the end of June, 1871.
Reporters1 Magazine (The). Conducted by Isaac Pitman, Bath.
Vol. 4, No. 37, January, 1847. 3d. Small 8vo. 16 pp.
lithographed shorthand. This was a new series of the Reporter
portion of the Correspondent, and was continued by Isaac
Pitman down to the end of 1848. It was " intended only for
the perusal of advanced phonographers." At the beginning
of 1849 the title was altered to that of the Phonographic
Reporter, and the periodical was edited and lithographed for
the future by Thomas Allen Reed.
Ipswich Phono-Press (The). No. 1. August, 1845. 3d. Demy
8vo. 8 pp. of lithographed shorthand and 8 pp. of shorthand
dictionary in each number. Edited by John King to Dec,
1845, when Isaac Pitman (who wrote the transfers throughout) ,
took up the editorship. The last number appeared in
December, 1846. With it was issued a notice that a new
series of monthly phonographic periodicals would commence
in the following year, namely, the Phonographic Star (Learner's
Style), Phonographic Correspondent (Corresponding Style), and
Reporters' Magazine (Reporting Style).
Phonographic Star (The). Conducted by John Newby, Friends'
School, Ackworth, Wakefield. [A large phonographic star is
here displayed.] Published by C. Gilpin, 5 Bishopsgate street
Without, London ; afterwards by Isaac Pitman, 5 Nelson
APPENDIX III 377
place, Bath, and Queen's Head passage, London. Price 2d.
No. 1, March, 1844. [Small 8vo. 8 pp. monthly.] In the
number issued December, 1846, the Editor announced that
" He bequeaths its name to a new periodical about to be
commenced by Isaac Pitman."
Phonographic Star {The), New Series, demy 16 mo. January,
1847. 16 pp. Conducted by Isaac Pitman, and written in
the First Style of Phonography. At the end of the issue for
December, 1851, appeared a notice stating that "With this
number closes the Phonographic Star. So many duties devolve
upon the Editor, who is also the lithographer, that he finds
it necessary to relinquish this for some other engagement
which would be of greater service to the cause of the Writing
and Printing Reform.
Phonographic Magazine {The). No. 1, January, 1849. Small 8vo.
Price 2d. Conducted by Isaac Pitman, Bath. Written in an
Easy Reporting Style " at the rate of 100 words a minute."
The last number appeared December, 1851. Isaac Pitman
announced that he "is compelled to decline the work solely on
account of his increasing labours in connection with the
extension of Phonetic Writing and Printing, and inability to
procure an assistant who combines the requisites of a good
phonographer and a good lithographer."
Precursor {The). Published by Isaac Pitman for private circula-
tion among members of the Phonetic Council. Demy 8vo.
8 pp. lithographed shorthand. Issued at irregular intervals
from 7th October, 1844. The copy, No. 12, October 22, 1846,
is described as " the last number of the present issue."
Revived in 1850 and 1851 and later.
Phonographer {The). January, 1851. Demy 16 mo. 16 pp.
" Devoted to the solution of the problem — to find the easiest
way of writing legibly every word of the English language
on the basis of the phonetic alphabet." It was printed for
private circulation and sold at cost price, 2s. per annum.
Issued irregularly. Discontinued in December, 1860.
Reporting Magazine {The). Vol. 1, Jan. to April, 1864. 16 mo.,
lithographed shorthand. The work terminated with the
number for December, 1864, which closed Vol. 2.
Speler {The). Conducted by Sir Isaac Pitman, Bath. Vol. 1,
No. 1, January, 1895. Monthly, £d. Crown 8vo. 8 pp.
Printed in the First Stage of the Spelling Reform. Engraved
shorthand reading matter introduced in No. 10, October,
1895. Vol. 1 was completed with the issue for December,
1896. The last number was that for January, 1897.
378 APPENDIX III
IV. SPELLING REFORM TRACTS.
The orthographic reform, to the advocacy of which Isaac Pitman
devoted so large a portion of his life, was chiefly promoted by
means of leaflets and pamphlets ; a great variety appeared, and
these were circulated in millions. They were known as " Spelling
Reform tracts," and usually exhibited the phonetic alphabet
with some explanatory matter, as an introduction to the essay or
article advocating the reform. No attempt is here made to give
a list of such publications.
V. BOOKS IN REFORMED SPELLING.
Arranged according to date of publication. Except where
otherwise stated the books were printed in full phonotypy.
1846 Milton's " Paradise Lost."
1849 The Book of Psalms (Authorized Version).
1849 Book of Proverbs (A.V.).
1850 The Holy Bible (A.V.). [Demy 8vo. O.T. 580 pp.,
N.T. 164 pp. There were apparently two distinct issues.]
1850 The Psalms of David in Metre (allowed by the authority
of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland).
1850 A Thousand Gems of Thought.
1850 Longfellow's "Evangeline."
1850 The Bath Fables, by the Rev. Sheridan Wilson.
1853 Daily Bread from the Word of God.
1853 St. Luke's Gospel. Also a smaller edition in 1856.
1855 Lucy's Temptation.
1855 Outlines of Astronomy.
1856 An English Grammar printed phonetically.
1856 St. Luke's Gospel in Mikmak.
1856 The Acts of the Apostles in Mikmak.
1857 Tomi Plouman.
1857 The Book of Genesis in Mikmak.
1859 The Book of Psalms in Mikmak.
1860 A Triple (twelve gross) Gems of Wisdom, on Moral and
Spiritual subjects.
1868 The Trial of William Rodger.
1870 A Rhymed Harmony of the Gospels, by Francis Barham
and Isaac Pitman (second edition published subsequently) .
1870 The Writings of Solomon, etc., translated by Francis
Barham.
1871 The Other Life, by William H. Holcombe, M.D.
1871 Our Children in Heaven, by William H. Holcombe, M.D.
1871 Conversations on the Parables of the New Testament, by
Edward, Lord Stanley.
1871 The Wonderful Pocket and Other Stories, by Chauncey
Giles.
1872 The Game of the Chesse (Second Edition).
APPENDIX III 379
1873 A Memorial of Francis Barham, edited by Isaac Pitman.
Plea for Spelling Reform (A), Volume of tracts edited by
Isaac Pitman.
1878 Emanuel Swedenborg, the Spiritual Columbus. (First
Stage.)
1879 A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.
1879 Boys of Other Countries, by Bayard Taylor.
Susan's Return to Her Old Home, by Katherine M. A.
Cooper.
1880 Literary Ladder (The). By A. A. Reade. (First Stage.)
1880 The Vale of Brukli. (First Stage.)
1881 Gospel Epic (The), by Francis Barham and Isaac Pitman.
Second edition.
1882 Life and Correspondence of Rev. J. Clowes. (First Stage.)
1883 Gladys, or The Story of Penbirth. (First Stage.)
1884 The Squire of Ingleburn, and what he did with the Lawson
Arms, by R. Bailey Walker. (First Stage.)
1884 The Testimony of Jesus, by David Bailey. (First Stage.)
Tales the Woods Tell. (First Stage.)
1887-8 Phonetic Readers. First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth.
1892 The New Testament (Revised Version) with the readings
recommended by the American Revision Company incorpo-
rated in the text. [This edition contains a preface by Isaac
Pitman which states that " Bishop Taylor, of the American
Methodist Episcopal Church, superintends above a dozen
mission stations, with schools, on the Congo, and teaches
the natives the English language by means of Phonetic
Reading Books. A very large supply of this edition of
the New Testament has been sent to him for use in the
schools." This was the last book printed in full phono-
typy. The type was set at Bath by an American missionary
under the supervision of Isaac Pitman. Crown 8vo.
436 pp.]
1895 Wesley and Swedenborg. Two Essays by Two Clergymen,
American and English, on the two greatest religious men
of the last century, with an introduction by Sir Isaac
Pitman. [Fcap. 8vo. Printed in First Stage.
1895 Reminiscences of the Early Life of Sir Isaac Pitman. [This
work consists of a reprint of the correspondence in the
Intellectual Repository of 1836 relating to the author's
acceptance of the doctrines of Swedenborg. It has a
preface by Sir Isaac Pitman dated Bath, October, 1895.
Fcap. 8vo. Printed in First Stage.]
(It has not been found possible to include in the above
Bibliography notices of an almost innumerable number of small
productions and contributions by Sir Isaac Pitman to books and
periodicals.)
INDEX
Alist Francis Barham, 180
Andrews S. P., first acquaintance
with Phonography, 87 ; intro-
duces it at Boston, U.S.A., 87 ;
Isaac Pitman supports his
efforts, 88 ; reference to in
American address, 269
Angus Dr., 211
Armstrong Sir W., 159
Art Journal, 294, 315
Ashby Rev. J., 328
Austin E., review of Phonography,
65
Australian address to Isaac
Pitman, 319
Axon W. E. A., 266
Bagster S. and " Comprehensive
Bible," 20-23; suggests pre-
paration of new system of
shorthand to Isaac Pitman, 33 ;
publishes " Stenographic Sound -
Hand," 43 ; and the title
" Phonography," 46 ; verses on
Phonography, 52, 80 ; transfers
phonographic publishing to
1 Queen's Head Passage, 97
Bailey J. E., 204
Ball Rev. W. J. makes proposals
for the improvement of Phono-
graphy, 188 ; discussed in
Phonetic Journal, 190
Barham, F. F., 179 ; " Rhymed
Harmony of the Gospels," 180 ;
the Alist, 180 ; " Memorial " of
by Isaac Pitman, 181 ; drama
of " Socrates," 181
Barkas T. P., 74
Barton Bernard, satire on Phono-
graphy, 91
Bath Temperance Society, 302
Bell A. M., " Visible Speech " of,
174
Bell G., 175
Besley R. , (type founder) , criticizes
early phonotypy, 151
Bickersteth Rev. E., 93, 314
Boyle A. F., 269
Bridge Professor, 260
Bright John, speech on Phono-
graphy, 81
Bright Timothy, tercentenary of
his system, 246
British Association at Newcastle,
159 ; at Bath, 160, 277
British Phonetic Council, 116, 175
British Phonetic Union, 131
Brock T., 255
Brooke H. S., 75
Burnz Eliza B., 270
Bury Viscount, learns Phonogra-
phy, 274 ; at the inauguration
of the National Phonographic
Society, 281
Butter worth J., 170
Byrne Rev. J. R., 213
Byrom's shorthand, 32
Candy F. J., 124
Carson F., 75
Cassell J. and shorthand lessons
for ''Popular Educator," 114
Cassell, Petter & Galpin, ditto, 115
Cayley C. B., 127
Chambers W. and R. and Phono-
graphy, 65, 92
Christian World description of
Isaac Pitman at Exeter Hall,
241
Clark Mrs. and Phonography, 82
Clarke James, 75
Cologne Gazette, 330
Coltman J. and Phonetic Institute
Building Fund, 195 ; contribu-
tion to spelling reform, 205
Conigree Chapel, 305
Crabbe Rev. G., the poet, 4
Crompton Dr. S., 204
Croxton A. W., 266
Crump F. O., 260, 261
Cur wen Rev. J., 215
381
382
INDEX
Dallinger J., replies to B. Barton,
92
Darton Eliza, 14
Davis Maria, 1
Dawson G., on Phonography, 103 ;
President of Phonetic Society,
120
De Haan F., 276
Dixon William Hepworth, 75
Dreinhofer Dr., 260
Drummond Rev. Gordon, 326, 328
Dutch Phonography, 276
Edinburgh, Isaac Pitman's visits
to, 64, 175, 234
Edmunds G., 79
Ellis Alexander John, first letter
to Isaac Pitman, 84 ; contribu-
tion on phonetic spelling, 98 ;
" The Alphabet of Nature " by,
99 ; "A Plea for Phonotypy
and Phonography, or Speech-
Writing," 99 ; agreement with
Isaac Pitman on 1847 phono-
typic alphabet, 99 ; residence
in Bath, 100 ; issues the
Phonetic Journal, 100 ; es-
tablishes printing office at Al-
bion Place, Bath, 101 ; history
of the phonetic movement, 101 ;
produces Phonetic News, 104 ;
tribute to Isaac and Benn
Pitman and George Withers,
108 ; publishes Spelling Re-
former, 108 ; illness of, 108 ;
his phonetic type destroyed by
fire, 110; statement in the
Press on the loss over the
Phonetic News, 111 ; corre-
spondence with Isaac Pitman
on Presidency of the Phonetic
Society, 120 ; Max-Muller's
testimony to, 207 ; member of
deputation to Government on
spelling reform, 216
English Review, quotation from,
186
Evercirculator, the first, 94
Everitt J. D., 220
Exeter Hall , soiree at , in 1 85 1 , 1 1 3 ;
authorities view spelling re-
form movement with suspicion,
114 ; Isaac Pitman lectures at
in 1885, 241
Falknhr G., 76
Faraday Rev. A., 328
Field G., 305
Figgins V. and J., produce first
phonotypic fount, 84 ; produce
shorthand fount, 184
Francini Giuseppe, adapts Phono-
graphy to the Italian language,
232
Freeman H. W., 271
French Phonography, 232
Gahagan C, 131
Gantter Dr., 260
Gawtress W., eulogy on short -
hand, 32
Gladstone Dr. J. H., 211, 216;
description of Isaac Pitman's
system, 253, 255
Gladstone W. E., and spelling
reform, 229, 230
Glasgow, Isaac Pitman's visits to,
69, 284
Gowers Sir W., 282
Graham's " system," 178
Graphophonomachia : The Battle
of the Signs and Sounds, 222
Gray Dr., 288
Great Exhibition of 1851, 112
Griffin J. and price of books, 231
Gurney-Salter W. H., 249, 260
Hale Rev. E. Everitt, 330
Hall S. C. and Mrs., 304
Hanson Sir Reginald, 263
Harbutt Mrs. paints miniature of
Isaac Pitman, 267
Harbutt W., 267
Harland John, tribute to Phono-
graphy, 82, 145
Harris Dr. W. T., 370
Harrison Sir George, 235
Harwood Alderman J. J., 265
Haywood G. R., 75
Healy, Timothy M., M.P., 200
Hill Sir Rowland, and Phono-
graphy, 93
Hill Thomas, 239
Hill Dr. Thomas (Harvard
University), 316
Hill T. W., 78
Hine T., 237
Holgate Mary, 23
INDEX
383
Holyoake G. J., presentation to
by Isaac Pitman, 29
Hornsby J., 75
Hudson Rev. Joseph, 19
Hunt W., 118
International Shorthand Con-
gress, London, 1887, 248 ; Earl
of Rosebery's speech at, 250 ;
newspaper reports of the pro-
ceedings, 252 ; exhibition of
shorthand books and manu-
scripts, 252 ; phonographic
celebration at, 253 ; paper by
Isaac Pitman on " The Genesis
of Phonography," 36, 254 ;
Congress dinner, 261 ; " Biblio-
graphy of Shorthand," 265 ;
" Transactions," 265
Ipswich Phonographic Soiree, 95
Ipswich Phono-Press, 103
Italian Phonography, 232
Jerrold Douglas and spelling
reform, 105
Jones Edward, 179, 207, 210, 213,
216, 230
Keene James, New Church min-
ister and editor of Bath Journal,
Keene Colonel J. B., paints
portrait of Isaac Pitman, 89
Keith-Falconer Hon. Ion, 200, 239
Kelvin Lord, and Phonography,
70
King J., 82
Kingston House, Bradford-on-
Avon, 25
Laverton Charles, accidental
death of, 31
Laverton family, 31
Lawson J. B., 260
Lawson Sir Wilfrid, 302
Lewis William, 199
Literary World, 332
Lloyd J. R., 170
" Macaulay's Essays " in Phono-
graphy, 203
Mackillop C. W., 303
Malagasy Phonography, 276
Manchester, Isaac Pitman's visits
to, 55, 135, 178, 203, 266
Martin Dr. J. W., experiments in
teaching reading by phonotypic
books, 210
Masters Isabella, 143
Mathew Mr. Justice, judgment in
copyright action, 239
Max-Muller F., first letter to Isaac
Pitman, 140 ; reference to
phonotypy in lectures on the
" Science of Language," 141 ;
Fortnightly Review article on
spelling reform, 205 ; Presi-
dent of Phonetic Society, 220 ;
entertains Isaac Pitman at
Oxford, 220
McGillicuddy T., 270
Melson Dr., 78
Michaelis Dr., 257
Mikmak books in phonetic print-
ing, 142
Miner E. N., 268
Mogford J. H., 75
Montgomery James, poem on
Phonography, 90
Moore J. C, 200, 260
Moore Thomas, 304
Morgan Rev. R. H., 203
Morris J. W., 302, 325
Munson J. E., 270
Murch Sir Jerom, 271, 298
Murray Dr., adoption of three
phonotypic characters in " Ox-
ford English Dictionary," 229 ;
and spelling reform, 229
Nankivell E. J., 282
National Phonographic Society,
280
National Society of Shorthand
Teachers, 299
New Miss, teaches Pitman family, 9
New York branch, 283
"Oxford English Dictionary,"
and phonotypy, 229
Pagliardini Signor Tito, 215
Palmer H. J., 194:
Parker J. A., 204
Paterson A.,
Paul Thomas, 176
Percival Dr., 280
Perkins Rev. B. R., 27
Phonetic Alphabet of 1876, 208
384
INDEX
Phonetic Institute, the first, 73 ;
the second, 111 ; the third,
122 ; the fourth, 196 ; the fifth,
276
Phonetic Journal first issued with
this title (1848), 100; new series
of (1873), 187 ; Jubilee of, 283
Phonetic News, first appearance
of, 104 ; prohibitive price of,
106 ; discontinuance of, 107
Phonetic Society, the, 107 ;
George Dawson President, 120 ;
votes on vowel scale, 128 ; Sir
W. Trevelyan President, 139 ;
re -organization in 1875, 200 ;
members given teacher's quali-
fication, 201 ; Max-Miiller
President, 220 ; teacher's quali-
fication withdrawn, 220 ;
Jubilee list of members, 290 ;
dissolution of, 290
Phonographic Alliance, 134
Phonographic alphabet " accord-
ing to nature," 38
Phonographic consonants, selec-
tion of forms for, 37
Phonographic Corresponding So-
ciety, 75 ; first list of members,
76 ; phonographic ability a
qualification of membership,
94 ; converted into Phonetic
Society, 107
Phonographic Dictionary, 103,
168, 202
Phonographic festivals : Man-
chester, 76 ; Nottingham, 77 ;
Birmingham, 78
Phonographic Journal, No. 1, 66
Phonographic Jubilee : proceed-
ings at -the celebration, 253 ;
American gold medal and ad-
dress, 268 ; Canadian celebra-
tion, 270
" Phonographic Teacher," first
million, 243; second million, 299
Phonographic travelling lecturers,
estimate of their work, 116
" Phonography," by John Jones,
M.D., 46
Phonography, genesis of Isaac
Pitman's system of, 36 ; first
" Manual " of, 71 ; at Anti-
Corn Law Bazaar, 88 ; Seventh
Edition of, 95 ; bronze medal
awarded to at Great Exhibi-
tion of 1851, 112 ; copyright of,
114, 237; Ninth Edition of,
126 ; Tenth Edition of, 128 ;
American objections to Tenth
Edition, 132 ; quarter of a
century of, 144 ; Society of
Arts and, 164 ; Rev. Dr.
Parker on, 179 ; Dr. Pank-
hurst on, 179 ; postal teaching
of, 182, 188 ; printed from
movable type and engraved
characters, 184 ; silver medal
awarded to at Health Exhibi-
tion, 1884, 234 ; gold medal
awarded to at Edinburgh Inter-
national Exhibition, 237 ; Jubi-
lee of, 245 ; at Rugby School,
280 ; and phrenology, 313 ;
proposed changes in, 322 ;
universality of, 330 ; evolution
of, 333 ; bibliography of, 355 ;
American adaptations of^370 ;
foreign adaptations of, ^371 /
Phonography, foreign adaptations
of : Spanish, 164 ; French,
232 ; Italian, 232 ; Malagasy,
276 ; Dutch, 276 ; German,
Chinese, Japanese, Bengalee,
291 ; Welsh adaptation, 203
Pitman (Abraham), 15
Pitman (Alfred), 176, 243
Pitman (Benjamin or Benn), 6, 8,
15, 24, 34 ; learns " Steno-
graphic Sound -Hand," 42 ;
phonographic lecturer, 72 ; be-
comes London publisher, 97 ;
retires from lecturing, 116, 117 ;
goes to America, 116; objec-
tions to Tenth Edition, 132 ; 316
Pitman (Clarence), 255, 283
Pitman (Ernest), 176, 243
Pitman (Frederick), 15 ; begins
lecturing, 75 ; takes up publish-
ing, 98, 118 ; appointed Society
of Arts examiner in shorthand,
164 ; reluctance to adopt
phonographic improvements,
167 ; edits Shorthand Magazine,
170 ; 216 ; death of, 243
Pitman (Guilbert), 255
Pitman (Harry), 255
Pitman (Henry), 15 ; learns
" Stenographic Sound -Hand,"
INDEX
385
24 ; 42 ; begins lecturing, 75 ;
settlement at Manchester, 117 ;
179, 229, 255, 266, 315
Pitman, Isaac, birth of, at Trow-
bridge, 1, 6
horoscope of, 3
baptism, 4
Sunday School teacher, 4
youthful characteristics, 6
school days of, 7
clerk to Mr. Edgell, 8
home studies, 8-12
and Isaac Watts 's works, 9
and music, 9, 18, 305-307
and " Lennie's Grammar," 10
and "Spectator" and " Iliad," 10
memorizes poetry, Scripture,
and Greek grammar, 1 1
love of " Paradise Lost," 12
study of " Walker's Diction-
ary," 12
mastery of Taylor's shorthand,
13, 31
clerk to his father, 13
becomes a British School
teacher, 13
at Borough Road College, 14
master of British school, Bar-
ton-on-Humber, 16, 17
private accounts kept at Bar-
ton, 16
flute accompaniment to drill, 18
lectures on astronomy, 18
temperance society work, be-
comes abstainer, 18-28
admitted into Wesleyan
Methodist Society and a
circuit preacher, 19
Bagster's Comprehensive
Bible " and revision of
references, 20-23, 28, 34
first marriage, 23
appointment as master of
British school, Wotton-under-
Edge, 24
success of school, 25-26
meeting with J. K. Bragge and
discussion on writings of
Swedenborg, 26
accepts Swedenborg 's revela-
tion, 27
ejection from Wesleyan com-
munion and dismissal from
school mastership, 27
25— (2284)
Pitman, Isaac, attends Wotton
parish church, 27
adopts vegetarian diet, 28
presentation to G. J. Holyoake
at Birmingham, 29
opens private school at Wotton,
30
gives instruction in shorthand,
30
his shorthand letter book, 30
studies with his cousin Charles
Laverton, 31
prepares a text -book of Taylor's
system, 32
is advised to invent a new
system, 33
beginning of shorthand author-
ship, 34
devises a vowel scale, 35
consonant alphabet, 36
publication of " Stenographic
Sound-Hand," 41, 355
settlement in Bath, his opinion
of the city, 44
residence and school at Nelson
Place, 45
visits Samuel Bagster at Old
Windsor, the title " Phono-
graphy " adopted, 46
reception of " Stenographic
Sound-Hand," 47
comparison with previous
systems, 48
teaches a phonographic class, 48
competes for Government prize
relative to penny postage, 48
Phonographic Penny Plate, de-
sign of, 49 ; engraving of, 51
Second Edition of the system,
51
begins phonographic propa-
ganda, 53
gives lessons gratuitously, 53, 54
Third Edition of the system, 54
first lecturing tour, 54
first visit to Manchester, 55
letter to the Manchester news-
papers, 56
controversy with P. B. Temple-
ton, 56
writes a Greek sentence from
dictation, 63
second lecturing tour, 63
first visit to Edinburgh, 64
386
INDEX
Pitman, Isaac, third lecturing
tour, 66
production of No. 1 of Phono-
graphic Journal, 66
first visit to Glasgow, 69
testimonial from Professors
Thomson and Ramsay, 70
lessons to Lord Kelvin and Prof.
James Thomson, 70
" Pocket Edition " and " Man-
ual of Phonography," 71
discontinues private school, 73
" The Reporter's Book," 73
the " Phonographic Institu-
tion," 73
visited by Thomas Allen Reed, 74
establishes the Phonographic
Corresponding Society, 75
attends phonographic festival
at Nottingham, 77
attends festival at Birmingham,
78
speech on origin of Phono-
graphy at Birmingham, 79
phonotypic printing, inception
of, 82
establishment of Phonotypic
Journal, 83
correspondence with Alexander
John Ellis, 84
phonotypic fount, the first, 84
edits Phonographic Correspon-
dent, 85
sets up first page of phonotypy,
85
practical knowledge of printing,
85
first annual address to Phono-
graphic Corresponding
Society, 86
" Reading and Writing Re-
form " inaugurated, 86
supports the introduction of
Phonography in America, 88
reports Richard Cobden at
Bath, 88
Bath Journal publishes speech
from his phonographic notes,
89
oil portrait by J. B. (afterwards
Colonel) Keene, 89
starts the first evercirculator, 94
at Ipswich phonographic soiree,
95
Pitman, Isaac, his first printing
press, 96
description of his first printing
office, 96
opens London depot, 97
president of Phonetic Council, 98
agreement with A. J. Ellis on
phonotypic alphabet, 99
retires from control of Phono-
typic Journal, 100
relinquishes printing plant and
staff to A. J. Ellis, 100
his part in the phonetic move-
ment described by A. J. Ellis,
101
writes " History of Shorthand,"
102, 263
produces " Phonographic Dic-
tionary," 103
A then (sum article on his work,
103
resumes publication of the
Phonotypic Journal, 106
announces the discontinuance
of the Phonetic News, 106
re-names the Corresponding
Society the Phonetic Society,
107
his tribute to A. J. Ellis, 107
discontinues use of " 1847 "
alphabet, 109
appeal to A. J. Ellis for
phonotypic unity, 110
prints the Bible phonetically, 110
contradicts erroneous announce-
ment about the Institute, 111
occupies the second Phonetic
Institute in Albion Place,
Bath, 111
exhibits Phonography and
phonotypy at the Great Exhi -
bition of 1851 and is awarded
bronze medal, 112
addresses soiree at Exeter Hall,
113
attends anniversary of Preston
phonetic school, '114
and the work of the British
Phonetic Council, '116
names Gallery phonographic
reporters known to him in the
early fifties, 118
makes the Phonetic Journal a
weekly periodical. 119
INDEX
387
Pitman, Isaac, produces enlarged
" Shorthand Dictionary," 119
his estimate of his own litho-
graphic phonographic trans-
fer work, 119
correspondence with A. J. Ellis
on Presidency of Phonetic
Society, 120
removes his private residence to
2 Lansdown Terrace, Bath, 122
third Phonetic Institute Par-
sonage Lane, Bath, 122
the propagation of his religious
views discussed, 124
circulation of his text -books in
1855, 126
vowel scale experiments in co-
operation with C. B. Cayley,
127
introduction of new vowel scale
and publication of Tenth
Edition, 128
his reasons for the change, 129
replies to T. A. Reed's ob-
jections, 130
publishes the Eleventh Edition
of Phonography, 133
abolishes " Editions " after the
Twelfth. 133
address at Manchester, (1857),
135
death of his first wife, 135
Reckoning Reform, 136
receives support of Sir Walter
Trevelyan, for spelling reform
propaganda, 138
loans from Sir Walter Trevel-
yan, 139
first letter from Prof. Max-
Miiller, 140
Max-Muller's opinion of his
work as spelling reformer, 140
produces works in Mikmak
language, 142
his second marriage, 143
quarter of a century of Phono-
graphy, 144
promotes the employment of
shorthand clerks, 146
testimonial to, 146
letter of Rev. C. H. E. Wyche
to, 147
proposes the building of a
Phonetic Institute, 148
Pitman, Isaac, presentation of
testimonial, (1862) 149
acknowledgment of presenta-
tion, the " usufruct " speech,
150
gives Mr. Besley's opinion on
the first phonetic type, 151
description of his work in
Parsonage Lane bv T. A.
Reed, 153
character sketch bv William
White, 155
takes services at the New
Church, Bath, 159
prepares paper on " Brief
Writing " for British Associa-
tion meeting at Bath, 1864, 160
on Sir William Armstrong's
advocacy of longhand abbre-
viations, 161
on illegible writing, 163
carriage accident to, 164
interest in the Shakspere Ter-
centenary Celebrations, 164
temporary estrangement from
T. A. Reed, 166
on the inadvisability of a
reporter changing his method
of writing, 167
produces Third Edition of
" Phonographic Dictionary,"
168
produces " Reporter's Assist-
ant," 169
works executed in lithographic
shorthand, 170
transfer writing, an anecdote
connected with, 171
adopts a shorter working dav,
171
begins practice of annual holi-
days with a visit to the Isle
of Wight, 172
production of the " Dairyman's
Daughter " in shorthand, 173
and A. M. Bell's " Visible
Speech," 174
witness at the Edinburgh
Justiciary Court, 175
appeal on behalf of the relatives
of a convicted man, 178
on Graham's " system," 178
address at Manchester Town
Hall, 178
388
INDEX
Pitman, Isaac, his friendship with
Francis Foster Barham, 179
publishes a " Memorial of
Francis Barham," 180
lithographs the Bible in short-
hand, 181
last work in lithographed
shorthand, 182, 195
crusade against the paid postal
teaching of Phonography,
182, 188
prints Phonography from
movable type and engraved
characters, 184
brings out new series of Phonetic
Journal containing engraved
Phonography. 187
a singular rumour about, 187
and " Ball's Standard Phono-
graphy," 188
" Proposal for the Building of a
Phonetic Institute at Bath,"
191
his personal history in connec-
tion with Phonography, 192
and the Income-tax Commis-
sioners, 193
Phonetic Institute Fund sub-
scription list, 194
accident at Turkish bath, 195
purchase of building for
Phonetic Institute in Bath
Abbey Churchyard, 196
occupation of fourth Phonetic
Institute, 197
trouble^ with neighbours about
printing machinery, 198
Phonetic Society reorganiza-
tion, 199
fourth edition of " Shorthand
Dictionary " from metal
characters, 202
co-operates in the adaptation of
Phonography to the Welsh
language, 203
is interested in " Spelling Bees,"
203
addresses a meeting at Man-
chester (1876), 203
observations on Max-Miiller's
article on spelling reform in
the Fortnightly Review, 205
address at Spelling Reform
Conference, 214
Pitman, Isaac, attends a deputa -
tion to the Government on
spelling reform, 216
takes part in the proceedings
of the Spelling Reform
Association, 217
is noticed by Punch, 218; replv
to, 219
introduces changes in the
Phonetic Society, 220
visits Max-Miiller at Oxford, 220
sends phonotypic literature to
the Caxton Exhibition at
South Kensington, 220
is visited by Prof. J. D. Everitt,
220
builds Hazel wood, 221
publishes twenty-seven schemes
of orthographic reform, 222
replies to the Spectator's charge
of " flat burglary," 225
first stage of the spelling reform
introduced, 225
gives up full phonotypy, 228
address at Bristol (1880), 231
on the publication of phono-
graphic and phonotypic
books, 231
publishes French adaptation of
Phonography, 232
assists in adaptation of Phono-
graphy to Italian, 232
address to the Shorthand
Society (1884), 232
is awarded the silver medal at
the Health Exhibition of
1884, 234
visit to Edinburgh and address
(1884), 234
gold medal awarded to at
Edinburgh International Ex-
hibition, 237
witness in the copyright action
of Pitman v. Hine, 237
lecture at Exeter Hall (1885),
241
issues speed certificates (1885),
242
his sons become partners in the
phonetic business, 243
opens the London house of
Isaac Pitman & Sons, 244
central figure in the Jubilee of
Phonography, 245
INDEX
389
Pitman, Isaac, his letter to
T. A. Reed on Jubilee celebra-
tion, 247
Lord Rosebery's reference to
at the opening of the Inter-
national Shorthand Congress,
251
designated the " Father of
Phonography," 251
received by Lord Rosebery at
the Hotel Metropole, 251
lends books to the Congress
Exhibition, 253
his system described by Dr. J. H.
Gladstone, 253
his speeches, etc., at the pho-
nographic celebration and
presentation of bust and
addresses, 36, 254, 257
his painstaking care as a steno-
graphic author described, 256
responds to the toast of " Short-
hand Authors " at the Con-
gress dinner, 261
love of shorthand solely for its
use, 262 ; explains this
statement, 262
attends luncheon at the Man-
sion House, 263
Sir Reginald Hanson on Isaac
Pitman's invention, 264
publishes the " Transactions of
the Congress " and the "Bib-
liography of Shorthand , ' '
265
address at Manchester (1887),
266
presentation at the New Church,
Bath, 267
American gold medal and
address, 268
Canadian honour to, 270
celebration and presentation by
the citizens of Bath, 270
his speech of acknowledgment,
272
dinner at Holborn Restaurant
and presentation of gold
medal, 273
his speech in reply, 276
builds and occupies fifth
Phonetic Institute, 276
reads paper before British Asso-
ciation at Bath in 1888, 277
Pitman, Isaac, address at Mid-
land Institute, Birmingham,
277
severs his connection with the
Shorthand Society, 278
his ideal of the mission of
Phonography fulfilled, 280
takes part in the establishment
of the National Phonographic
Society, 281
becomes first President of the
Society, 282
a member of the Institute of
Journalists, 282
visits Munich and pays a tribute
to F. Z. Gabelsberger, 283
celebrates the Jubilee of the
Phonetic Journal, 283
visits Glasgow and speaks on
shorthand (1891), 284
addresses a gathering at Bristol
(1891), 284
sends a message to the National
Phonographic Society by the
phonograph, 284
celebration of 80th birthday,
285
describes his habits of life, 285
presentation from the Scottish
Phonographic Association, 286
writes introductory " Greeting "
in Pitman's Shorthand
Weekly, 286
summer holiday in the Channel
Islands, 288
promotes the Phonographic
Jubilee of T. A. Reed, and
makes presentation, 288
gives lecture on Phonography
at Trowbridge Town Hall, 289
illness from congestion of the
lungs, 289
removes his desk from the Insti-
tute to his private residence,
289, 292
discontinuance of Phonetic
Society, 290
establishment of Speling Leeg,
290
address on the objects of the
Leeg at Portsmouth, 290
distributes prizes to the stu-
dents of the Metropolitan
School of Shorthand, 290
390
INDEX
Pitman, Isaac, fatal malady
manifests itself, 293
descriptive interview with in
You and I, 293
letter from Lord Rosebery
offering the honour of knight-
hood, 296 ; his reply, 296
notification in the London
Gazette, 297
knighthood approved by the
Press, 297
messages and addresses of
congratulation, 297, 298
address of congratulation from
members of Parliament, 298
accolade of knighthood bestowed
by Queen Victoria, 298
retirement from the firm of
Isaac Pitman & Sons, 299
becomes Patron of the National
Society of Shorthand
Teachers, 299
interest in Revised Version of
the Bible, 300
student of the works of Sweden-
borg, 301
his political opinions, 301
supporter and officer of temper-
ance societies, 302
interest in the Peace Society
and other bodies, 302
joins in the Bath Free Library
movement, 302
distributes books to free libra-
ries, 303
presentation to library of
Hawarden Institute, 304
takes part in the Moore memo-
rial celebration at Bromham,
304
his interest and attainments in
vocal and instrumental
music, 305
hymn tune composed by, 306
anthem arranged by, 307
prepares a table of vibrations of
musical notes, 308
his vegetarian dietary, 310
Latin epigram on his simple
diet, 311
letter to The Times on his
dietetic experience, 218, 311
contribution to " Study and
Stimulants," 312
PiTiMAN, Isaac, his dislike of
tobacco, 313
his attitude towards the auto-
graph hunter, 313
phrenological examination of,
313
artistic perceptions of, 315
deceived by a supposed Polish
exile, 315
visited by an American name-
sake, 316
interviewed by Mrs. Tooley in
The Young Man, 318
corresponds with and is visited
by Archbishop Walsh, 320
opens the Institute of Spelling
Reform, 320
last visit of T. A. Reed to, 321
proposes changes in Phono-
graphy, 322
publishes the Spelev, 323
his last public appearance in
advocacy of spelling reform,
323
failing health of, 324
his serenity of mind, 324
presentation of books to the
Bath Reference Library, 325
death of, 15, 326
funeral services of, 327
cremation of, 328
Bath civic memorial tablet to,
328
memorial portrait accepted by
the National Portrait Gallery,
329
tribute of the Cologne Gazette,
330
estimate of the Rev. E. Everitt
Hale, 330
the universality of his system
of Phonography, 330
" In Memoriam " from the
Literary World, 332
Pitman (Jacob), 4, 6, 8, 14, 15,
24 ; takes " Stenographic Sound -
Hand " to Australia, 42 ; 308
Pitman (Jane), 14, 15
Pitman (Joseph), 14, 15 ; first
acquaintance with " Steno-
graphic Sound-Hand," 42 ;
as lecturer, 71 ; at Rochdale,
81 ; at Brighton, 93; 116, 117
INDEX
391
Pitman (Maria), marriage to
Samuel Pitman, 1 ; influence
on her family, 2 ; death, 14
Pitman (Mary), 14, 15
Pitman (Melissa), 15
Pitman (Rosella), 14, 15, 255
Pitman (Samuel), birth, 14 ;
marriage of, 1 ; second mar-
riage, 14 ; settlement at Trow-
bridge, 1 ; overseer to Mr.
James Edgell, 1 ; study of
astronomy and astrology, 2 ;
horoscope of son Isaac, 3 ; a
diligent reader, 4 ; Sunday
School superintendent, 4 ; pro-
motes British School and infant
school at Trowbridge, 5 ; pro-
motes temperance and free
libraries, 5 ; arranges home
evening school for his family, 9 ;
purchases books from Tegg,
Cheapside, 11 ; begins business
as a cloth manufacturer, 13 ;
decides to make Isaac a British
school teacher, 13 ; selects the
same profession for five other
sons and daughters, 14 ; resi-
dence at Kingston House, Brad-
ford-on-Avon, 25 ; learns
" Stenographic Sound -Hand,"
43 ; assists at London depot,
98; death, 14
Pitman's Shorthand Weekly, 286
Pocknell E., 253
Press on Phonography and the
Spelling Reform : Athenceum,
103 ; Bath and Cheltenham
Gazette, 65 ; Berrow's Worcester
Journal, 72 ; Birmingham Daily
Mail, 211 ; Bradshaw's Journal,
76 ; Cologne Gazette, 330 ;
English Review, 186 ; Fort-
nightly Review, 205 ; Keene's
Bath Journal, 89 ; Manchester
Guardian, 82, 145 ; Manchester
Times, 56 ; Morning Chronicle,
113 ; Nottingham Mercury, 11 ;
Punch, 105, 218 ; Suffolk
Chronicle, 82 ; Weldon's
Register, 155 ; Westminster
Review, 105
Quirk Dr. (Bishop of* Sheffield),
328
Rand Rev. S. T.( 143
Reade A. A., 312
Reckoning Reform, 136
Reed Sir Charles, 215, 216
Reed T. A., and Penny Plate, 51 ;
first visit to Isaac Pitman, 74 ;
suggests Corresponding Society,
75 ; at Rochdale, 81 ; replies
to Morning Chronicle, 113;
description of and retirement
from lecturing work, 117 ;
assists with " Shorthand Dic-
tionary," 119 ; opposes change
in vowel scale, 130 ; adopts it,
131 ; declines to adopt Elev-
enth Edition, 133 ; describes
Isaac Pitman's work, 153 ;
temporary estrangement from,
166 ; adapts Phonography to
French language, 232 ; witness
in copyright action, 239 ; takes
initial steps for celebrating the
Jubilee of Phonography, 246,
249 ; makes presentation of
Pitman bust, 255 ; at the
foundation of National Phono-
graphic Society, 282 ; at Glas-
gow, 284 ; Phonographic Jubi-
lee of, 288 ; last visit to Isaac
Pitman, 321
" Reporter's Assistant," 168
Richter H., 253
Rodgers John, 213
Russell Sir C. 260
Sayce Rev. A. H., 213
Scottish Phonographic Associa-
tion, 235, 286
Shorthand, History of, 102, 263 ;
clerk, introduction of the, 145 ;
Society of Arts first examina-
tion in, 164 ; " Dictionary,"
202 ; science of, 232 ; as a
specific under Education Code,
279 ; included under Technical
Instruction Act, 279
Shorthand Society, 246, 278
Shum F., 271
Society of Arts first examination
in shorthand, 164
Spelling Bees, 203
Spelling reform, prize essay on,
139 ; works of American re-
formers, 143 ; three great
392
INDEX
obstacles to, 210 ; proposed
Royal Commission on, 211 ;
London School Board and, 212 ;
Conference in 1877, 213; Lowe
(Robert) on, 213; Temple
(Bishop) on, 214 ; at Social
Science Association, 1877, 215 ;
career of Spelling Reform Asso-
ciation described, 217 ; First
Stage of, 225 ; Five Rules of,
226 ; Three Rules of, 227 ; full
phonotypy falls into disuse,
228; Gladstone (W. E.) and,
229, 230
Spencer Herbert, and reckoning
reform, 136
Stenographic Sound-Hand, arbi-
traries in, 39 ; phrasing in, 40 ;
printing and publishing of, 41 ;
reprint of, 333
Storr W., 215, 216
Sully C, 75
Swedenborg Emanuel, 25, 26, 27
Tacchi A., 276
Taylor Bianchi, 305
Taylor Bishop, 379
Taylor's shorthand learned by
Isaac Pitman, 13, 31, 32
Tercentenary of Shorthand, 246
Trevelyan Sir Walter, supports
spelling reform, 138 ; loans to
Isaac Pitman, 139 ; President
of Phonetic Society, 1 39 ; offers
prizes for essays on spelling
reform, 139 ; death of, 220
Trowbridge, St. James's church
at, 4 ; Zion chapel, 4
Typesetting from reporter's notes,
89
Tyte W., 271
Underhill E. F., 270
United Kingdom Alliance, 302
Valpy F. H., 253
Vowel scales old and new, 128
Walford Cornelius, 232
Walker T., 75
Walker's Dictionary, 34
Wralsh Archbishop, 320
Ward W. G., 75
Watkin Sir E., 266
Weber Dr., 260
Webster W., 124
Webster Mrs., 15, 255
Welsh Phonography, 203
Wesley John, Isaac Pitman
compared to, 157
Westby-Gibson Dr. J., 246, 265
White W., character sketch of
Isaac Pitman, 155
Whitwell M., 231
Wilcox W. J., 276
Withers G., 74, 118
Woodiwiss G., 327
Woodward F. E., 74
Wright T. R., 261
Wyche Rev. C. H. E., 124, 147
THE END
Press of Isaac Pitman & Sons, Bath, England.
J— {2284)
SIR ISAAC
PITMAN
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